


The Shadows Consume

by Amalspach, CrystalHeartZyx



Series: The Shadows [4]
Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: At least I tried, F/M, Follows Main Story, I suck at writing romance, It develops as it goes, M/M, Oh look it's still going, The author's notes are back baby!, There is no such thing as too many OCs, This needs so much editing, Too Many OCs, Torturing my characters is fun, Where has this story gone to?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2020-05-13 17:43:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 42
Words: 330,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19256068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amalspach/pseuds/Amalspach, https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalHeartZyx/pseuds/CrystalHeartZyx
Summary: The demigods continue their journey to close the Doors of Death, defeat Gaea and the giants, and stop the war. Yet Veon holds a secret that could shatter his friends' hope, one that could lead to the success or failure of their friends in Tartarus. Meanwhile, Lucy faces the trials of Chaos, though they're not what she expected at all, and could be impossible for her to accomplish.Summaries are hard.





	1. The New Order

**Author's Note:**

> This is the fourth story in my Shadows series. If you don't want to be extremely confused, please go back and read my other three stories - The Shadows of A Heart, The Shadows Darken, and The Shadows of Her Heart.
> 
> If you already have, first, I give you a round of applause *claps* because it has been a long ride and we've still got two books to go. Don't read if you're not in it for the long run.
> 
> I'm working on a lot of other stories right now, some on Fan Fiction and some on Fiction Press, (and school sucks!) and so my updates won't be as often as I'd like.
> 
> Reviews encourage me to update more often.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> :)

Third Person: Zytaveon

" _Do you know what you've done?!_ " He spat.

"I…"

Veon had no clue what to say. He was still recovering from the shock of seeing his older and more god-like twin brother, and he was still confused about the cloud that made him pass out. He was trying to figure out how they connected, but his brain wasn't working at full capacity at the moment.

" _Foolish, ignorant, reckless! You! You made her emotional! You made her throw away_ all _of our work! All because she_ loves _you. How asinine!_ "

"Y…you're…Zyanya?" Veon realized.

" _No! I'm the bloody Pope!_ "

"B-But… _how_  did you-?"

" _Oh, for my sake, get_ over _it! I'm only here because_ you _are the only one left on this forsaken hunk of a daughter-in-law that I can still possess without blowing them up! And you're not going to last forever;_ I'm  _not going to last forever, and now any chance we had of_ fixing _that little debacle is gone because of_ you!"

"W-Wait, hold on a minute-"

" _We don't have_ time _to 'hold on!' Being in your head is like being drugged! I can barely think straight, everything's hazy and I feel ready to pass out! You know that feeling you get when you burp up soda and it burns your nose? Of course you do; I'm in your head. Imagine that feeling, but constantly consuming your entire essence! It_ hurts! _And yet I'm_ stuck _here! Having my own existential crisis like the rest of the small little Greco-Roman pagans!_ "

"So…you were the light that went into me last night? And now…you're inside my head?"

" _And it's driving me insane! More insane than normal!_ "

Veon couldn't tell if he should be amused or afraid of the fact that she(wait, it was a 'he' how, right?) had to clarify.

"Wait…why did you leave Lu?"

" _Why did I leave that sorry excuse for a host?! I'll tell you why._ "

He kneeled in front of Veon.

" _Because if I were to fall into the pit, Tartarus would've been able to destroy me in my weakened state! It took everything I had to get out of her in time before he got a firm hold on me._ "

"But why couldn't you just go down and rescue him yourself?"

" _Tartarus jumped my husband and locked him up down there in his pit. Without him, I was instantly weakened to the point that he wouldn't_ need _to ambush me if he wanted to win in a fight. Now, as much as I want to bust into the Underworld and retrieve him, I know that I'm no good to him dead, and I know that he'd tell me to be cautious, to be patient, and to not be rash. And I was. I did everything I knew that he'd want me to. I waited, I tried so hard, and yet everything was ruined by you._ "

It was weird for Veon to see basically himself talking as someone else, but he could sense that Order was seriously concerned for Chaos's wellbeing, talking about him with a longing that he could tell was very deep. He understood that Order had gone to drastic measures to get back Chaos, basically casting aside Lu's life as well as anyone else who got in her (his?) way, but Veon saw the caring side of Order, the reason why they were so desperate.

"Can Lu get Chaos out of there?" Veon asked.

Order scoffed. " _Maybe. But him going into her is like me going into you. It's entirely possible, but it's going to be extremely uncomfortable, and she won't get much of a power boost from him, if any at all._ "

"You mean…she-"

" _Even if she manages to contain Chaos, she'll have only her own power to rely on while she escapes Tartarus with him inside. And the longer she hosts an incompatible Primordial, the more it's going to eat away at her body and soul. The same goes for you as well, boy. You'll last a fortnight at most. Maybe another week if you're strong enough. Just because you can host Chaos properly doesn't mean you'll last very long with me._ "

"Veon, you there?" Nico called.

" _Don't bother pointing me out to anyone,_ " Order warned. " _I'm only in your head. No one else can see me._ "

"I'm here!" Veon called back.

Nico opened the door and poked his head in. "What? Did you sleep on the floor? I thought you'd woken ahead of me, but you weren't at breakfast."

"Yeah, I just…I'm fine."

He raised his eyebrow. "Okay…well, the others wanna know where you are, so…"

"I'm coming."

Nico nodded, although he didn't understand what Veon's explanation for sleeping on the bathroom floor was. He got the message that Veon wasn't really willing to talk about it, so he kept quiet.

He followed Nico out to head to the dining hall to join the others. Order followed him the entire way, walking as though he was in the room as well. He seemed to have a passive-aggressive attitude, and Veon knew that it was probably because Order really didn't want to be there. He was angry at Lu for breaking their deal and going to Tartarus instead of Veon, but he blamed Veon for being the reason she had done so. It was all because she loved him that she'd tried to prevent what happened, probably also the trauma of the failure with Kaze as well. Order had to admit that Kaze had been an accident, but in the long run, he thought it would be beneficial in hardening Lucy into what he needed, but in the end, it turned into one of the reasons she'd changed her mind. Humans were so unpredictable, really.

As the others tried to keep their hopes up about going forward, the topic of Lu gaining Chaos's power to be the Deus ex Machina of the situation was brought up a couple times in order to sustain troop morale. Veon realized with dread that she wouldn't have Chaos's actual power even if she managed to host him. And that was his fault. If he had gone down there, he would've been able to use Chaos's power, or at the very least allow Chaos more stability than Lu would, since  _he_  was the one meant to be Chaos's host.

" _You wanna tell them?_ " Order asked, leaning against the wall of the dining hall casually.

No, he didn't. The hope that Chaos's power would be able to protect Percy and Annabeth was probably the only thing keeping this crew going. Emily was using that as a catalyst for hope throughout the crew, and if he was to burst their bubbles like that, then they wouldn't have a strong enough reason to keep their strength. All they would be able to do is tell themselves the three demigods were strong enough to make their way through the dungeon of monsters in the inescapable Underworld and close the most guarded doors in Tartarus all on their own, and that wasn't the most believable thing in the world. Veon knew that the group needed all the encouragement they could get at this point, and he kept his mouth shut, dreading the reality of the situation.

He knew his best friend was strong, he knew Lu could perform miracles. And for now, that was all he could tell himself to keep going. It wasn't a lot, but he knew that he couldn't let the others feel the same doubt. So Veon bit his tongue as the others spoke of all they needed to do to not let Percy, Annabeth, and Lu down. Audrey made a comment about how the three of them had the easier job with Chaos's power on their side, and Veon internally winced.

" _Humans,_ " Order muttered.

He couldn't understand them sometimes. Their whole 'hope' and 'belief' thing was still out of his grasp. Understanding emotions was always Chaos's thing. Order continued his passive-aggressive demeanor as he tried to keep his own confusing feelings in check as well. He was currently trapped inside this boy, the only one he could currently blame for his predicament since Lu was now in Tartarus. It was going to be a long few weeks for both of them.


	2. Our Trials Begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting strong with an 8,000 word chapter. Sorry 'bout that, but I write like a maniac.
> 
> Enjoy! Review!
> 
> :)

First Person: Lucy

As the light of the sun above disappeared, I felt energy gather within me, and suddenly, everything came out. A pure white and glowing snake of smoke poured out of my mouth and eyes, gathering together as it all flew up and out of the pit, just before the darkness closed in around me, and the surface sunlight could no longer be seen.

Order had left me.

I was extremely drained, weaker than I'd ever been for five years. Instantly, once the light disappeared and Order withdrew, I fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

I was dreaming. I was on the Argo II. During that uneventful day after the Shrimpzilla - Skolopendra - attack. It felt like an eternity ago.

" _Here. I figured that since you gave me an early birthday present, I'd give you yours. I know it's a bit stupid, and you don't seem like the jewelry type, but-"_

_It was time to move on to the next stage. That gem would increase his connection to Chaos, as mine increases my connection to Order. I passed him a replica of my own gem, except this one was dark black instead of white. I pulled my own out from under my shirt to show the resemblance, and his eyes flashed with recognition._

_"_ _Your mother wore a necklace like that. I saw her in a flashback with Hazel, when we were looking into Sammy. She said the name she preferred was Ren."_

_"_ _Ren?" I asked, a smile trying to escape, though a sad one at that._

_"_ _Yeah. I thought her name was Zenobia."_

_"_ _It is. It's just that Ren was the name my mom had when she met my dad. He would always joke that she was the goddess of power itself."_

_"_ _What is she the goddess of exactly?"_

_"_ _It's a bit complicated. Basically, she's the goddess of limit breaks, if you will. You know how sometimes, when one pushes their limits, they sometimes get a surge of power that can save one's life, do incredible things beyond previous ability? She's the goddess in charge of that. My father would always just call her a goddess of power. A "selective" one, but in essence, yes, she is a goddess of power. I would always love it when he told me the story of how they met, all the tales of their experiences together. I'd laugh, and he'd over exaggerate things, and then…at the end he'd always look sad. I asked him where Mama was, why she wasn't with us, and he would always just give me this small smile and say 'She's watching over us.' I'd ask why she wasn't there with us again, and he'd just say that she was out keeping the monsters away. Then…he vanished. I once hoped that he had joined my mother in keeping the bad guys away, but it wasn't like him to leave without notice. It didn't take long for me to grow old enough to realize he was dead. I grew up too fast because of that event."_

_"_ _I'm sorry," He said._

_I shook my head. "It's not your fault, and there's no reason to apologize."_

_"_ _Still. It must've been tough. I didn't even remember my mom, since Dad erased all my memories of her. It's odd. I lived with my adopted parents for ever since I can remember. My memories are obviously fuzzy the farther back I try to go, but I never really realized how much I missed, how much I had with my real mom and my dad together, before it was all taken away."_

_"_ _Your dad stayed for a long time, much longer than he should've. He practically raised you like a real father for the first part of your life. All I ever had of my mother was this necklace that my dad left me, and this ring."_

_I held up my hand and showed off the ring that I'd been wearing on my middle finger for years now, seldom taking it off. It had once been on the necklace next to the gem before it had fit me, and the moment it did, I slipped it on._

_"_ _And hey, you've got your own rings," I continued. "We each have pieces of our parents with us at all times. Perhaps it was meant to be."_

_He chuckled. "Yeah. But we're not very good at this relationship thing, huh?"_

_I shrugged. "We're nervous and embarrassed fools, trying not to look like lovesick idiots. But…you know, I've thought about it a lot. I've thought about things like, maybe we're_ not _cut out to be more than friends. But then again, I can't imagine you with anyone else, as cheesy as it is. When you're around, everything just seems right. You…stick out in my brain, you know? That person that I always think of first, the person that I feel most relaxed with, the person that makes me most excited to be around. And I thought I'd get over it. I thought the adrenaline rush would wear off like psychology says it should, but it didn't. And it never has. I can't explain it, I probably never will. And I'm okay with that. So yeah, we suck at being hardcore lovey-dovey boyfriend and girlfriend. That's okay. At least, for me."_

_I couldn't look at him in the eye after saying all that. Perhaps it was my pride that hated saying such things, pouring my heart out and preventing me from saying anything all corny and gushy without acknowledging that it might be stupid. I'd locked my heart away a long time ago, because all it's ever brought me is pain. I guess you could say it was sensitive from being neglected and out of practice for so long._

_He chuckled. "Wow. You stole all my lines."_

_"_ _What?"_

_"_ _You couldn't have described my feelings any better than that. Damn. I wanted to be the one to make the speech."_

_"_ The _speech?"_

 _"_ _Yeah. I mean, I know we suck, but I don't want to quit. I can't describe why, but you basically explained it as best I could." He sighed. "Okay, look. We're not like every other couple out there. We're reserved about our feelings and we don't do PDA to_ any _extent unless we're trying too hard. But I like us that way. We don't have to be like others. If this is how we get along, then that's great. We shouldn't have to conform to how others believe relationships should be like. This is a relationship between you and me, no one else. I like you more than anyone else in a way I can't describe. I have odd feelings that seem to want to come out at weird times, but I know that during a fight, I'm always keeping track of you in the back of my mind more than anyone else, and it hurts more to see you hurt than the others. In the end, we're doing what couples do - worrying about each other, favoring each other, etc. - and yet we're not overly dramatic about it. That's how we like to do things, so screw what everyone else says. We do it_ our _way. Right?"_

 _I chuckled. "Yeah. We do it our way._ "

I felt a warm feeling, remembering that day, that speech, that evening spent together as we did our rounds on the deck looking out for more monsters. We watched the sun go down together, watched as the stars come out, and we talked until we were tired, just standing next to each other for warmth in the night ocean breeze until we turned in.

And then I remembered the nightmare that would follow.

My eyes snapped open, and I realized I was still falling. It was pitch black, the winds howling in my ears around me. I concentrated, and my skin began to glow with a golden light - courtesy of Apollo's blood in me - though that wasn't too helpful. All around me there was nothing but blackness, and my light was draining me a lot more than it normally would've. I lowered the brightness once more allowing myself to fall in the darkness. In all honesty, it was nice.

I hoped Veon was okay. I knew he'd be worried about me, but at least he wasn't falling down here in my place. I was always a person who liked white noise, serenity, as well as the idea of flying and/or falling. A drop so long was a rare opportunity for me to enjoy the wind surging past me, close my eyes and just relax. When I reached Tartarus, the trials would begin, but until then, I had nothing to do but try and enjoy it.

Hesiod, the old Greek poet, had once speculated it would take nine days to fall from earth to Tartarus. I don't know how long I'd been knocked out, but the air was growing hotter and damper, as if I was plummeting into the throat of a massive dragon. I cursed Arachne for dragging Percy and Annabeth into Tartarus with me. I was the only one who should've had to go, but they fell even before I could trade places with Veon. I couldn't imagine Arachne had survived the fall, but who knows? Falling to Tartarus the hard way wasn't a common occurrence that had been studied before. If monsters went there when they died, perhaps it was like those stories of Valhalla, where they could die, be poisoned or cursed, and there would be no such thing as death, not forever, at least.

But Percy and Annabeth were the concern now. They definitely wouldn't survive the fall, and they weren't monsters, so there wasn't even the possibility of them surviving because this was monster hell. I never expected a happy ending for myself. I was always willing to give my life for a greater cause because my life certainly wasn't worth anything. Most demigods died young at the hands of terrible monsters. That was the way it had been since ancient times. The Greeks  _invented_  tragedy. They knew the greatest heroes didn't get happy endings. Still, it wasn't fair to Annabeth and Percy. She went to so much to recover the statue of Athena, and just when things had been looking up, she and Percy had been reunited just to plunge to their deaths. Even the gods couldn't devise a fate so twisted. Then again, this was Gaea we were talking about, the one who wanted both Order and Chaos out of the way, risking more than she could ever understand by imprisoning and possibly killing them. Order had complained to me often about how bad a daughter-in-law she was.

I was enjoying the serenity of the fall, nearly falling asleep again, when the surroundings began to change. The darkness took on a gray-red tinge, and my vision began to grow better, and I knew that I wasn't lighting up the area around me. The whistling in my ears turned to more of a roar, and the air became intolerably hot, permeated with a smell like rotten eggs. The vast chute that I'd been falling through opened into a vast cavern. The entire island of Manhattan could've fit inside this cavern - and I knew that I couldn't even see its full extent. Red clouds hung in the air like vaporized blood, rocky black plains punctuated by jagged mountains and fiery chasms coating the landscape that I  _could_  see. To the left, the ground dropped off in a series of cliffs, like colossal steps leading deeper into the abyss. My stomach sank with dread as I realized I was there. This was Tartarus, and my trials would begin soon. First off, though, surviving the fall. Not to mention looking for Percy and Annabeth.

I looked around frantically, the smell of sulfur in the air making it hard to concentrate, but I spotted them a short distance away. They were falling towards the ground at terminal velocity, and Tartarus and/or Chaos wouldn't protect them like the two Primordials would for me. I was the new key vessel for them. I was the only ticket out of this place for a Primordial, and only one would be escaping within my body. I pushed myself over to them, trying my best to control the strong winds of falling at terminal velocity, but after the fight, sending out my Curses as fast as I could, and especially losing the power of Zyanya - or Order - I was so weak. I barely managed a gust in their direction before I saw spots, but I pushed once more to tackle them in the air, changing their course towards a river of glittering black water. In return, I was thrown in the opposite direction, but I knew that I'd survive. I just hoped that I would be able to keep them alive as well.

Cocytus, I realized. I'd dropped them into Cocytus, the River of Lamentation. A river made of pure misery. At the very least it wasn't the Lethe or the Styx. If anything, they'd gotten off pretty well. It wouldn't be easy, but I knew that they had a good chance of survival.

Me? I slammed into the ground hard. Everything went black for a few moments as pain surged through my body. I could've been knocked out for a while, or it could've just been milliseconds, but it was hard to tell what was real or not as the pain took over everything I had. I felt the cold seeping in, numbing my injuries, and even healing them. Tartarus wanted me alive.

When my head cleared enough that I regained control, I pushed myself up to my hands and knees, realizing I was in a crater. Great. I struggled my way up the side of the ditch, my limbs burning and the sulfurous air suffocating. When I reached the top, I was surprised to find Veon's lance embedded in the ground in front of me. Could this be a coincidence? I still had my weapons on me, my quiver's arrows locked in so that they didn't fall out unless I released them. But perhaps the weapon of Hades's son would help me increase my control over the darkness, allow me to take on Chaos's trials and fight Tartarus.

I wrapped my hand around the shaft of the lance before tugging the weapon out of the ground. It was embedded deep in the ground, but I managed to tug it out. My limbs burned from fatigue, and they were sore, as though I hadn't exercised in ages and just tried to do gym class in school. I fell back as I finally tugged it free, and just then, I heard a laugh echo out across the pit. It sounded like Annabeth, and I assumed that she was trying to cheer up Percy as they escaped Cocytus. I wondered if anyone had ever laughed in Tartarus before - just a pure, simple laugh of pleasure. I doubted it.

My skin prickled from the air, and I felt as though my lungs were on fire. I pushed myself to my feet using Veon's lance, brushing off shards of glass from the ground embedded in my palms and legs. I was covered with an angry rash, and my natural healing abilities were having trouble keeping up. I'd never had a rash before, never had a paper cut that lasted more than a few seconds, and never had a bruise darker than a barely visible shade, and never had a scab. The air was acid, the water was misery, and the ground was broken glass. This was gonna be a fun journey, huh?

I hobbled over to a nearby rock that seemed to be on relatively clear ground, using Veon's lance as a cane. I realized how much holding it made me miss him. Annabeth had fallen with Percy. I had fallen to make sure Veon didn't have to. I wanted to hold back my feelings like I always did, but for some reason, it was so much harder than normal. Maybe it was because Order was now gone. I missed him. I wanted him by my side. I knew I shouldn't wish for him to be here, but I wanted to be with him. I wanted him to hug me and say it was all just a nightmare; that it was all over. I just wanted to shut out the rest of the world and focus on him for once. I was never really able to appreciate my time with him, and suddenly, while I was back to being just Lucy, I wished I had.

" ** _Chaos?_** " I begged. " ** _Please, let me do the trials. I'll do it for him. And then I'll get you out of here. I'll get back to him. I_** **will** ** _get back to him._** "

I noticed movement in the corner of my eye and turned to see a pair of Titans walking towards me. Sent here by Tartarus, no doubt. They needed to bring me deeper into Tartarus for him to get a proper hold on me, for him to have guaranteed success at torturing me into submitting to him, for there to be no escape.

"This isn't the one. It's a girl."

"This is where we were told he'd drop. Must've just gotten the gender wrong. Anyway, she's alive after that fall right? Must mean this is the one."

"He was clear that it was a 'he.'"

"He's keeping her alive. We bring her."

The giant eager to bring me to Tartarus stepped forward, cracking his knuckles and rearing back for a punch.

"Hey, he said he wants the demigod back alive!" The more cautious of the two warned.

"Alive doesn't mean we can't break her first."

I braced myself for the coming hit, but suddenly, energy surged through me and my senses dulled.

I jolted awake and realized I was lying in a bed. My pain was gone. I looked at my hands and then arms. They were completely unmarred. I could breathe. This had to be a dream. I was going crazy. Maybe I was wrong and Chaos and Tartarus had let the Titan kill me. Though I was Greek, I really didn't want to go to Elysium if I died. In the show Supernatural, Heaven was represented as your own personal slice of Heaven - quite literally - where you were most comfortable, able to live on your own, but if you were smart enough, you'd be able to go and visit other people's heavens too. That was what my Heaven would be.

Not that I really believed I deserved the best of any mythical Heaven - whether it be Elysium, Valhalla, Heaven, enlightenment, or whatever. I'd done so many bad things in my life, telling myself I was doing the right thing. But that was what villains did, wasn't it? In the show Once Upon a Time, Rumpelstiltskin said that you continue telling yourself you're doing the right thing, and then eventually you can convince yourself of it too. There were those who understood what they were doing was wrong, fully and completely, and those who were choosing to ignore the truth. In all honesty, I think I was both. Either way, I wasn't a good enough person to deserve any Heaven of any kind.

"Hey," A groggy voice said beside me.

I looked over in surprise to find Veon lying on the other side of the bed. He sat up, yawning rubbing his eyes with one hand and stretching his other. I noticed instantly that he had a distinct lack of a shirt.

" **Please** ** _tell me he's wearing pants,_** " I thought to myself.

I seemed to be fully clothed - in pajamas at least - so that increased the chances that nothing had happened between us. I didn't care  _how_  much I loved anyone - I was  _not_  going  _that_  far until I was  _at least_  25.

"What time is it?" He asked, before looking to his watch. "7:00?! Lu, don't wake me up before 11:00! You know the rules!"

He collapsed back onto the pillow and rolled himself up under the covers again. Unsure of what was going on, I decided to ignore him and slipped out of bed. Where the hell was I? I moved over to the window and pushed open the blinds to see a familiar city. Looking around the room more carefully, I realized I knew this place. This was where I stayed during the summers Zyanya had brought me to the legion, this was  _my_  apartment building.

I was in New Rome.

* * *

First Person: Zytaveon

During the third attack, Hazel almost ate a boulder. She was peering into the fog, wondering how it could be so difficult to fly across one stupid mountain range, when the ship's alarm bells sounded.

"Hard to port!" Nico yelled beside me from the foremast of the flying ship.

Back at the helm, Leo yanked the wheel. The Argo II veered left its aerial oars slashing through the clouds like rows of knives. Hazel made the mistake of looking over the rail. A dark spherical shape hurtled towards her, although she seemed confused at first, like she thought the moon was coming at us.

" _Watch your sister,_ " Order advised, seemingly uninterested in the chaos that was going on around him.

"Hazel, get down!" I shouted.

She yelped and hit the deck. The huge rock passed so close overhead it blew her hair out of her face.  _CRACK!_  The foremast collapsed - sail, spars, Nico, and I all crashing to the deck. The boulder, roughly the size of a pickup truck, tumbled off into the fog like it had important business elsewhere.

"Nico! Veon!" Hazel called as she scrambled over to us, Leo bringing the ship level.

"We're fine," Nico said, kicking folds of canvas off his legs.

She helped him up and we stumbled to the bow. The clouds parted just long enough to reveal the top of the mountain below us: a spearhead of the black rock jutting from mossy green slopes. Standing at the summit was a mountain god - one of the numina montanum, as Jason had called them (ourae in Greek). Either way, they were nasty. Like the others we'd faced, this one wore a simple white tunic over skin as rough and dark as basalt. He was about twenty feet tall and extremely muscular, with a flowing white beard, scraggly hair, and a wild look in his eyes, like a crazy hermit. He bellowed something that was along the lines of 'Destroy!' and 'I'm going to enjoy this!' Granted, it was a little less kind than that. With his bare hands, he pried another chunk of rock from his mountain and began shaping it into a ball.

" _You might wanna avoid those rocks,_ " Order advised, leaning against the railing and apparently very interested in one of his nails.

The scene disappeared in the fog, but when the mountain god bellowed again, another numina answered in the distance, their voices echoing through the valleys.

"Stupid rock gods!" Leo yelled from the helm. "That's the  _third_  time I've had to replace that mast! You think they grow on trees?!"

Nico frowned. "Masts  _are_  from trees."

" _I like him,_ " Order declared.

"That's not the point!" Leo shouted back.

He snatched up one of his controls, rigged from a Nintendo Wii stick, and spun it in a circle. A few feet away, a trapdoor opened in the deck. A Celestial bronze cannon rose, and we had just enough time to cover our ears before it discharged into the sky, spraying a dozen metal spheres that trailed green fire. The spheres grew spikes in midair, like helicopter blades, and hurtled away into the fog. A moment later, a series of explosions crackled across the mountains, followed by the outraged roars of mountain gods.

"Ha!" Leo yelled.

Unfortunately, judging from our last two encounters, Leo's newest weapons had only annoyed the numina. Another boulder whistled through the air off to the starboard (right) side, and my Kako tar that I had placed around the ship ate away at it.

"Get us out of here!" Nico yelled.

Leo muttered some unflattering comments about numina, but he turned the wheel. The engines hummed, magical rigging lashed itself tight, and the ship tacked to port (left). The Argo II picked up speed, retreating northwest, as we'd been doing for the past two days. I had my Kako guarding the ship all the way until we were out of the mountains. The fog cleared, and below, morning sunlight illuminated the Italian countryside - rolling green hills and golden fields not too different from those in Northern California. I saw that Hazel seemed homesick for Camp Jupiter. It had only been her home for nine months, but it was better than her home in New Orleans, and  _definitely_  better than Alaska. Being at the Fifth Cohort barracks, having dinners in the mess hall with wind spirits whisking platters through the air and legionnaires joking about the war games; I had so little experience with this, but I could sympathize that the short time after the quest in Alaska and the defeating of Polybotes had been good.

While we were on a night shift together, out on the deck and being on guard for attacks, Hazel had told me that she wanted to wander the streets of New Rome, holding hands with Frank, experience being a regular girl for once, with an actual, sweet, caring boyfriend. Kaze had told me about the plans that he'd had for him and his sister as well, but he begrudgingly said that I was invited too if I could keep up. He just wanted a life where the weight of the world wasn't on their shoulders. Back before Order, it had just been the two of them, surviving on their own, facing the occasional monster, but having just the two of them being enough for each other. I explained that there was always the option of New Rome, where we could get an apartment or something, go to college - or at the very least do some of our own schooling at our own pace - get jobs if we wanted, and we'd leave the fighting of monsters to the legion. Kaze didn't want a life completely devoid of fighting, and he enjoyed being in a more rural area with no cities or crowds around, but he liked the idea as a backup plan for their lives.

All in all, we just wanted to feel safe. Being scared and worried all the time got exhausting.

Nico picked mast splinters out of his arms, while I called off my Kakos' battle-defense mode and turned them to repair and maintenance. Some of them began climbing the foremast, grabbing the fallen pieces as they climbed and turning them to tar before the tar climbed up what remained and began rebuilding the wood where it was now gone.

"Wow, those things are useful," Leo commented.

"There was a lot more left of the mast this time," I reported. "Enough that the Kako can work with it."

The other times that the monsters had knocked the mast off, parts of it or even all of it had gone flying off the edge of the ship. It all depended on the angle that the rocks had come from and the force put in. I doubted that the rock gods were doing algebra to calculate the path of their projectiles, but you didn't have to know the numbers to understand that if you throw a rock in a certain way it'd do certain things.

Leo punched buttons on the ship's console. "Well,  _that_  was sucktastic. Should I wake the others?"

I'll admit that I was tempted to say yes, but the other crew members had taken the night shift and had earned their rest. Kaze had been up for nearly 36 hours before he finally crashed, probably trying to vent his anger at what had happened to his sister and avoiding nightmares about it. Falling asleep wasn't easy with that kind of dread on your shoulders, I knew. And the kid ran like the Flash, so I assumed he had more energy than a kid jacked up on Red Bull, but even he had his limits. When he started getting so slow that he was barely able to dodge one of the rocks from the mountain gods, I insisted that he go to his sister's room and fall asleep. At that point, Kaze was too tired to protest, nor to feel any unease at going into his sister's empty room. He'd face-planted into the pillow and was instantly snoring. I worried that he might suffocate, but he rolled over to face the wall, wrapping himself up in her sheets seemingly unconsciously.

The others had gotten in more sleep than Kaze, but they were still exhausted from defending the ship. Every few hours, it seemed, some Roman monster had decided the Argo II looked like a tasty treat. A few weeks ago, I wouldn't have believed that anyone could sleep through a numina attack, but now I imagined the others were still snoring away below deck. Whenever  _I_  got the chance to sleep, I slept like a coma patient. It wasn't that hard to fall asleep because of the constant exhaustion, but more than that, I was more fatigued than usual. The others assumed it was just a regular effect of the constant fights, but really, I assumed it was because of Order draining me from the inside out.

"They need rest," Haze said, seemingly agreeing with me. "We'll have to figure out another way on our own."

"Huh," Leo muttered.

He scowled at his monitor. In his tattered work shirt and grease-splattered jeans, he looked like he'd just lost a wrestling match with a locomotive. Ever since Percy, Annabeth, and Lucy had fallen into Tartarus, Leo had been working almost nonstop. Even Kaze had competition when it came to Leo's drive to continue working. He'd been acting angrier and even more driven than usual, not that it was surprising. Especially when Emily left his side to go on her nightly rounds or to go to bed, Leo seemed to become even more unstable. It seemed that Emily was the only thing holding this ship together, keeping us at an even balance between calm and driven. She was always the big sister that was telling us to slow down and take a few deep breaths, or suggesting other jobs to help keep us busy.

Hazel worried about Leo, but a part of her was relieved by the change, as Leo's smile and joking demeanor reminded her too much of Sammy, his great-grandfather - her first boyfriend, back in 1942. Life was complicated.

"Another way," Leo muttered. "Do you see one?"

On his monitor glowed a map of Italy. The Apennine Mountains ran down the middle of the boot-shaped country. A green dot for the Argo II blinked on the western side of the range, a few hundred miles north of Rome. Our path should've been simple. We needed to get to Epirus in Greece and find an old temple called the House of Hades - though the Romans referred to him as Pluto, but House of Hades had a better ring to it than House of Pluto. Hazel liked to think of him as the World's Worst Absent Father. I wished that I could sympathize with Hazel, but considering my father had made a great effort to stay with me for the beginning of my life, I couldn't. Perhaps Hades (Pluto) was trying to make up for the mistakes he'd made in the past by staying in contact with me, being a good dad. Of course, my mother ended up facing the consequences of his decisions, just like Nico's mother had. But as I twisted her ring on my finger, I knew that she didn't regret one moment of it.

To reach Epirus, all we had to do was go straight east - over the Apennines and across the Adriatic Sea. But it hadn't worked out that way. Each time we tried to cross the spine of Italy, the mountain gods attacked. For the past two days we'd skirted north, hoping to find a safe pass, with - unsurprisingly - no luck. The numina montanum were sons of Gaea - more of 'em, because let's be honest, Gaea has a  _lot_  of children - and that made them  _very_  determined enemies. The Argo II couldn't fly high enough to avoid their attacks; and even with all its defenses, the ship couldn't make it across the range without being smashed to pieces. At the very best, my Kako  _might_  be able to hold the thing together, but it wouldn't be permanent, and it wouldn't be easy.

"It's our fault," Hazel said. "Nico, Veon's and mine. The numina can sense us."

We glanced to Nico. Since we'd rescued him from the giants, he'd started to regain his strength, but he was still painfully thin. His black shirt and jeans hung off his skeletal frame, long dark hair framed his sunken eyes, and his olive complexion had turned a sickly greenish white, like the color of tree sap. It wasn't as though I was doing my better. I had begun to lose weight noticeably fast, and though no one had pointed it out, my clothes were becoming slightly loose on me. I hadn't become lazy or out of shape (if anything, I was working  _harder_  than I had before), but my muscles were weakening. My skin seemed to be resembling Nico's, becoming paler and allowing my veins to be seen easier. I wore a jacket and jeans constantly, but my face and hands were exposed, and the differences were slow but noticeable to those who knew me well - Emily and Audrey for example. Emily had given me looks of concern, but never said anything, and Audrey expressed her concerns to Emily, but had been advised that I didn't want to talk about it. I wondered if Emily knew the full story, but Order assured me she didn't. So far, they only assumed it was a result of my soul bond to Nico causing my health to deteriorate to his level.

In human years, Nico was barely fourteen, just a year older than Hazel but three years younger than me, but that didn't tell the whole story. Both Hazel and Nico were demigods from other eras. He radiated a kind of  _old_  energy - a melancholy that came from knowing he didn't belong in the modern world. We children of Hades/Pluto rarely had happy lives, and any happiness was always cut short, but it wasn't like that summed up at least 75% of other demigods as well. We would be facing our biggest challenge when we reached the House of Hades, but the three of us agreed that it was best to keep the secret from the others. Another secret that we had to keep for the sake of morale.

" _Please,_ " Order muttered, rolling his eyes as he leaned against the repaired mast with his arms crossed. " _Just because you kids are children of the death god doesn't mean you're such a large beacon. You'd make it a_ lot _further into the mountains before you were attacked if that were the case. It's the big statue down below. Now_ that _thing's got some juice. Like a magical beacon._ "

"Earth spirits don't like children of the Underworld," I agreed. "That's true. We get under their skin -  _literally_. Not to mention Kaze's been brought back from the dead, and betrayed Gaea all in one after she revived him. We have enough targets on our back already, sure. But I think the numina could sense this ship anyway. We're carrying the Athena Parthenos. That thing is like a…magical beacon."

Hazel seemed to shiver at the thought of the massive statue that took up most of the hold. We'd sacrificed so much saving it from the cavern under Rome, but we had little idea of what to do with it. So far, the only thing it seemed to be good for was alerting more monsters to our presence. It was possible that the years of being down in that cavern had weakened it, or maybe made it so that a certain condition had to be fulfilled for its power to be restored, but we had no idea what that was, or even where to start. Audrey had been looking into some books and lore on the Athena Parthenos, but so far found nothing of use. At this point, I wished that I could just jump ship and plow my way through the enemies and clear a path through the monsters like during one of those protection missions during a videogame. I always made sure that I was OP during those sections so that I could run ahead, wipe out all the enemies in the area, and just take the thing I was protecting through without trouble.

Leo traced his finger down the map of Italy. "So crossing the mountains is out. Thing is, they go a long way in either direction."

"We could go by sea," Hazel suggested. "Sail around the southern tip of Italy. We may not have…you know…our sea expert, Percy, but…we still have Audrey, and she's plenty strong on her own."

At Percy's name, the silence that ensued afterward hung in the air like an impending storm. All of us looked to Percy as a friend and an ally. We didn't know Percy that long, but we knew that we owed him a lot, and we all regretted letting him down when he needed us. We only watched as he and Annabeth plunged into that pit, Lu diving in after to save them. I took a deep breath. They were still alive. Tartarus was far away, but I had known Lu long enough to have built a connection. I would know it if she died. If she's alive, I knew that she wouldn't let Percy or Annabeth die either. We could still help them if we could get to the House of Hades and complete the challenges we knew were waiting.

"That's a long way," Nico pointed out. "Audrey's good, don't get me wrong, but she's just one person. We can't rely on her 24/7. Not with the frequency of attacks, and you know that Gaea's not gonna make it so that only the mountains are our problem."

"What about continuing north?" Hazel asked. "There  _has_  to be a break in the mountains, or something?"

Leo fiddled with the bronze Archimedes sphere that he'd installed on the console - his newest and most dangerous toy. I knew Leo was an expert, but I did worry sometimes that, Leo would turn the wrong combination on the sphere and accidentally eject us all from the deck, or blow up the ship, or turn the Argo II into a giant toaster. Fortunately, we got lucky. The sphere grew a camera lens and projected a 3-D image of the Apennine Mountains above the console.

"I dunno," Leo said, examining the hologram. "I don't see any good passes to the north. But I like that idea better than backtracking south. I'm done with Rome."

No one argued with that. Rome had  _not_  been a good experience. I had a feeling that even if we succeeded in completing this quest, got back Percy, Annabeth, and Lu all back, we'd have permanent PTSD from that place.

"Whatever we do, we have to hurry," I said. "Every day that the three of them are in Tartarus…"

I didn't want to finish, nor did I need to. We had to believe that the three of them could survive long enough to find the Tartarus side of the Doors of Death. Then, assuming the Argo II could reach the House of Hades, we  _might_  be able to open the Doors on the mortal side, save our friends, and seal the entrance, stopping Gaea's forces from being reincarnated in the mortal world over and over. Yeah, nothing could go wrong with that plan.

Nico scowled at the Italian countryside below them. "Maybe we  _should_  wake the others. This decision affects us all."

"No," Hazel said. "We can find a solution."

I saw how strongly Hazel insisted on the notion. We had all been learning to work as a team, but when Percy had gone, we'd lost one of our most important backbones, and with Annabeth gone, we lost one of the smartest of the seven - along with the one with the answers. With Lu gone, we lost one of our main powerhouses and confidence builders. Emily was trying so hard, and she was one of the main reasons we were still as confident and stable as we were, but she wasn't a natural born leader or fighter. We wanted someone who would act as our strongest fighter to look up to, hold us together because of their battle prowess and give us hope. Jason was trying hard too - but even as a natural-born leader and praetor of the Roman legion, he was just as shaken by what had happened and had lost his confidence. We'd lost Lucy, who fulfilled the role of a strong fighter as well as the person who seemed to know everything. Not to mention she was the leader of our team that she made to assist and protect the demigods of the prophecy. We didn't realize how much we relied on her until she was gone. She always seemed to know what to do, and we didn't just have her there as our demigod band leader - she was our friend. The four of us had been together for years. It just felt wrong without her there. There was an emptiness that was just unnerving. Without Annabeth, it felt like we'd lost the person to go to when we were confused, and Audrey was attempting to fulfill that role as best she could as well. Yet there was no way to replace our friends, and their disappearance itself shook us to the core.

If we woke up the rest of the crew every time we had a problem, we'd just start arguing, feeling more and more hopeless. We needed firm leaders, we needed those who came up with the plans, considering all options. Even if we disagreed on something, we at least needed to find somewhere to start. All of us were too kind for our own good. We weren't confident in our decisions, and with our inability to make a firm claim or declaration, we wouldn't be able to get anywhere. All we'd do is talk in circles, and we wouldn't even be able to argue since everyone was so delicate that we were afraid to do damage.

All of us had to make our absent comrades proud, prove that we could handle ourselves without them, and show that we weren't just there to stand on the sidelines, or to be nothing but soldiers that took orders and were nothing without a leader.

"We need some creative thinking," Hazel said. "Another way to cross those mountains, or a way to hide ourselves from the numina."

Nico sighed. "If I was on my own, I could shadow-travel. But even if Veon helped me, that wouldn't work for an entire ship. And honestly, I'm not sure I have the strength to even transport  _myself_  anymore."

"I could maybe rig some kind of camouflage," Leo suggested, though he didn't sound very enthusiastic. "Like a smoke screen to hide us in the clouds."

"I'm working on using the Mist to help cloak us," I said. "It's…it's been a bit hard to use my powers recently. But I'm getting better at it."

"Can it really hide us from all Gaea's forces?" Hazel asked.

"If potent enough, yes. I'd need a large amount gathered around the ship at once, and amassing enough for a ship this big and with such…notoriety, it'll take time."

Nico gave me a look, looking up and down to study my condition. It was obvious that I wasn't doing good, and it wasn't because of Nico and my soul bond. Order was a lot more draining than I had expected. I thought that I'd have more time, or at the very least the effects would drain me a lot slower. He had warned me that I'd have a couple weeks, maybe one more at most, before I wore away. I also expected my skin to start rotting like a vessel in Supernatural, so by those standards, I was looking semi-decent. Still, gathering that kind of Mist might not have been possible in my state, but I had to try. If I was going out, I was going to do it by helping the crew as much as I could. Using my Kako was so far the only thing that wasn't as draining as my other abilities - probably because it was a power from Gaea.

As I pondered a way to gather the Mist, a flicker of movement caught my eye, something small near the edge of the horizon, racing across the fields at incredible speed, leaving a vapor trail like a plane's. I walked over to the edge of the deck and looked over the railing. The blur was beige, however, I sensed a surge of power jumping around, and saw small flashes following the beige blur's path. I couldn't believe it. I had almost forgotten about the horses, it had been so long.

"It  _is_."

"Arion," Hazel muttered.

"What?" Nico asked.

Leo let out a happy whoop as the dust cloud got closer, the flashes of light following the path. "It's their horses, man! You missed that whole part. We haven't seen 'em since Kansas!"

Hazel laughed - the first time she'd laughed in days. I couldn't help but smile and chuckle at the sight of the old friends. About a mile to the north, the small beige dot circled a hill and stopped at the summit. He was difficult to make out, but when the horse reared and whinnied, Zoltan appeared in a flash next to him, lightning crashing and the sound of the two horses whinnying out carrying all the way to the Argo II.

"We have to meet them," Hazel declared. "They're here to help."

"Yeah, okay." Leo scratched his head. "But, uh, we talked about not landing the ship on the ground, remember? You know, with Gaea wanting to destroy us and all."

I put my fingers in my mouth and blew the loudest whistle I could. Lu had done most of the summoning when it came to Zoltan, but now that she was gone, all I could do was hope for the best. Luckily, Zoltan got the message, transforming into a blur of electricity that zoomed across the ground at the speed of lightning and then suddenly appeared on the deck of the ship.

" _Yo, been a while,_ " He said.

I chuckled and climbed on. "Yeah. But who's fault is that?"

" _Not mine!_ " He protested.

"Right."

" _I'll have you know I'm here to_ help _you because I've been doing something_ useful _with my time. Get Arion's rider on. We have something to tell you._ "

"Hazel, hop on. We'll take you to Arion. They've got something important to say."


	3. Hecate

First person: Zytaveon

As soon as Zoltan hit the ground, Hazel jumped off and ran to Arion, throwing her arms around his neck. "I missed you!" She pressed her face into the horse's warm flank, which smelled of sea salt and apples. "Where have you been?"

" _I've been trying to help you, girl!_ " Arion said, although he didn't say 'girl.' " _No time for sentiment, child! Come on!_ "

"Get on, Hazel," I translated.

" _At least_ my _rider can understand us,_ " Zoltan muttered.

" _You shut up!_ " Arion snapped. " _He can't_ naturally _speak horse!_ "

" _His little friend who's our sister can._ "

" _Gee, wonder why that is!_ "

"Would you two stop arguing?" I requested, passing Zoltan a gold nugget that I had kept in my pocket in case we saw him again.

I was afraid the horses wouldn't follow us into the Ancient Lands. The Mediterranean was too dangerous for demigods and their allies. These guys wouldn't have come unless they knew we were in dire need of assistance. The horses seemed agitated, Arion giving off a more scared and impatient feeling than his normal cursing sass, and Zoltan just seemed like he wanted to get this over with and go back to whatever he wanted (basically like me and school). Anything that could make a pair of fearless horses skittish should've terrified us. I had to admit, though, that I was getting tired of being cooped up on the ship, in the sky or in the air. It was nice to be on solid ground, even if it  _was_  Gaea's territory.

" ** _Hey, what's going on?_** " Nico asked.

The two of us had been working on the usage of our soul bond, and though it wasn't like we were completely one or something, we were working on telepathic communication.

" ** _We're fine,_** " I reported.

Hazel crouched down and summoned a gold nugget from the earth. She had been getting better at controlling her powers - precious stones hardly ever popped up around her by accident anymore, and pulling gold from the ground was easy. I mean, for me, gems popped up mostly when I sneezed back when I first discovered the power. It took some concentration, but it wasn't hard to keep the gems down, keep my powers from grabbing them every time I wasn't focusing on them. Hazel fed Arion the nugget, the horse's favorite snack. I wondered why. These were children of Poseidon, and the ones that had the easiest chance of recovering gold were us children of Hades/Pluto.

" ** _They want to take us somewhere,_** " I reported.

There was a moment of hesitation as Leo must've said something for Nico to report. " ** _Are they taking you into_** **that?** "

I felt Nico pointing my attention, and I turned to look to the north. A mile away, on the crest of the next hill, a storm had gathered over some old stone ruins - maybe the remains of a Roman temple or a fortress. A funnel cloud snaked its way down toward the hill like an inky finger.

"You want to take us  _there?_ " Hazel asked, swallowing like she had a bad taste in her mouth.

Arion said a very angry version of " _Uh, duh._ "

"Wanna turn back?" I asked.

Hazel looked to the dark storm. I knew that she sensed what I sensed, and there was something dark, powerful, and not necessarily friendly in there. Still, this was a chance to help the others, to lead instead of follow - and our group needed leaders. All of us were tough, but morale was low, and we were losing the courage to take leadership for fear of hurting others. We needed a system to be put in place, and it was agreed that all of us needed to take some initiative.

Hazel tightened the straps of her Imperial gold cavalry sword and climbed onto Arion's back. "No. We'll go."

" ** _We'll be okay. Stay put and wait for us._** "

" ** _Wait for how long?_** " Nico asked. " ** _What if you don't come back?_** "

" ** _Don't worry, we will._** "

"Let's go," I said aloud, before spurring Zoltan on.

Arion and Hazel beside us, we shot across the countryside, heading straight for the growing tornado. The storm swallowed the hill in a swirling cone of black vapor, and the horses charged straight into it. We found ourselves at the summit, but it felt like a different dimension. The world lost its color, the walls of the storm encircled the hill in a murky black, the sky churned gray, the crumbling ruins were bleached so white, they almost glowed, and even Arion turned from caramel brown to a dark shade of ash. Zoltan was already pure black, and even the silver sheen of magic that seemed to flow from him didn't really change.

In the eye of the tempest, the air was still. It kinda reminded me of the clouds of chaos in Final Fantasy XIII-3, or maybe even the empty space that my dad and I always talked in. My skin tingled coolly, as though I'd been rubbed with alcohol. In front of us, an arched gateway led through mossy walls into some sort of enclosure. It was hard to see anything through the gloom, but I felt a presence within, as if we were chinks of iron close to a large magnet. Its pull was irresistible, dragging us forward. The aura that I was sensing seemed familiar, like a song that you'd heard only once in your life, but recognized when you heard it later. You couldn't place when or where you'd been when you'd heard it, but you knew it wasn't completely unfamiliar.

Hazel reined in Arion, and he clopped impatiently, the ground crackling under his hooves. Wherever the horses stepped, the grass, dirt, and stones turned white like frost. It reminded me of Hubbard Glacier in Alaska - how the surface had cracked under our feet. I remembered the floor of the horrible cavern in Rome crumbling to dust, plunging Annabeth, Percy, and then Lu into Tartarus.

"Hazel?" I asked.

" _Let's get a move on,_ " Zoltan said.

" _I'm trying man!_ " Arion called. " _Tell_ her _that!_ "

"Come on," I said. "The horses are getting impatient."

She hoped this black-and-white hilltop wouldn't dissolve under us, but she decided it was best to keep moving. "Let's go, then," She said, although her voice sounded muffled, as if she were speaking into a pillow.

The horses trotted through the stone archway. Ruined walls bordered a square courtyard about the size of a tennis court. Three other gateways, one in the middle of each wall, led north, east, and west. In the center of the yard, two cobblestone paths intersected, making a cross. Mist hung in the air - hazy shreds of white that coiled and undulated as if they were alive.

I held my hand out and felt around. "This is Mist."

"Yeah, I can see that," Hazel said.

"No, I mean this is  _the_  Mist. As in, with a capital M. The supernatural veil that obscures the world of myth from the sight of mortals. It deceives humans, even demigods, into seeing monsters as harmless animals, or gods as regular people. The stuff I was talking about before that could hide us from Gaea's forces. But…the density of this Mist…it shouldn't be visible like this. It doesn't happen naturally. This is  _pure_  magic."

As it curled around the horses' legs, floating through the broken arches of the ruined courtyard, the hairs stood up on my arms. I'd rarely encountered the person this magic came from, but the longer I studied it, the more sure I was of who this came from. It was the person who had initially taught me of the Mist, suggested I could control it.

In the distance, a dog howled. Arion wasn't usually scared of anything, but he reared, huffing nervously. Zoltan told Arion to keep it together, although I could tell my horse had his own doubt and uncertainty running through him.

"It's okay," Hazel said, stroking Arion's neck. "We're in this together. I'm going to get down, all right?"

"Hazel…" I warned, but she slid off Arion's back, and instantly, he turned and ran.

"Arion, wai-!"

But he'd already disappeared the way he'd come.

" _Coward,_ " Zoltan muttered.

"You're gonna ditch too?" I asked.

" _Air isn't ditching. We're your ride back, right? But she wants to talk to you two and you two alone._ "

I sighed. "Fine."

I slid off his back and he nuzzled my arm gently. " _Good luck._ "

He turned and trotted back the way we came, shouting, " _Yo! Arion! Get back here!_ "

In a small flash of silver, he disappeared, probably going to chase Arion to be back for us once we were done. Another howl cut through the air - closer this time.

"Come on," I said.

We stepped towards the center of the courtyard. The Mist clung to Hazel like freezer fog, but I willed it to just swirl around me.

"Hello?" Hazel called.

"Hello," A voice answered.

The pale figure of a woman appeared at each of the three gateways, the smoky images of the same woman moving in unison towards the center of the ruins. Her form was blurred, made from Mist, and she was trailed by two smaller wisps of smoke, darting around her heels. She reached the center of the courtyard and her three forms merged into one. She solidified into a young woman in a dark sleeveless gown, her golden hair gathered into a high-set ponytail - Ancient Greek style. Her dress was so silky, it seemed to ripple, as if the cloth were ink spilling off her shoulders. She looked no more than twenty, but in this life, that meant nothing.

"Zytaveon Kanazoi," She greeted, nodding to me and then turning. "Hazel Levesque."

She was beautiful, but deathly pale. She looked like a corpse being prepared for a funeral, dressed beautifully, pale as death, and her face made up prettily - except she was alive, her solid black eyes were open, and when she tilted her head, she seemed to break into three different people again, misty afterimages blurring together, like a photograph of someone moving too fast to capture.

"Hello, Hecate," I said. "What have you come to us for?"

She smiled calmly over to me. "Ah, son of Hades. I see you're doing…hmm, I can't say 'Well,' now can I? Degrading a little faster than we expected?"

"What?" Hazel asked.

"It's nothing," I snapped.

The goddess hummed in amusement. "Whatever you wish to interpret it as."

"I'm sorry, wait," Hazel said. "Did Veon just say that you're…?"

"Ah," She nodded. "Let me give you some light."

Hecate raised her hands. Suddenly she was holding two old-fashioned reed torches, guttering with fire. The Mist receded to the edges of the courtyard. At her sandaled feet, the two wispy animals took on solid form, one a black Labrador retriever and the other a long, gray, furry rodent with a white mask around its face. When I'd first met her, I'd assumed she was a weasel, but Hecate had informed me she was a polecat. I wasn't much of an animal expert, so I didn't really care.

The goddess smiled serenely. "Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Hecate, goddess of magic. We have much to discuss if you're to live through tonight."

* * *

"What do you want?" I asked.

Hazel looked like she wanted to run, but Hecate's Mist wouldn't let her. I had a little power over the Mist, but Hecate was the expert, and she could easily override anything that I tried to do. On either side of the crossroads, two dark metal torch-stands erupted from the dirt like plant stalks. Hecate fixed her torches in them, then walked in a slow circle around us, regarding us as if we were partners in some eerie dance, her black dog and pole cat following in her wake.

"You are like your mother," Hecate decided, eyeing Hazel.

Hazel looked like she was struggling to swallow. And to breathe. "You knew her?"

"Of course. Marie was a fortune-teller. She dealt in charms and curses and gris-gris. I am the goddess of magic."

Hazel had the natural reaction of people first meeting Hecate - her pure black eyes pulling at her, as if trying to extract her soul. You got used to it after a while. Of course, Hazel's mother had been feared back in New Orleans for her mother's abilities as a witch. The nuns muttered that Hazel's mother was trading with the Devil. If the nuns were scared of her mother, I wondered what they'd make of Hecate? Heck, I wondered what most religious people would think of the gods. Dionysus was a walking train-wreck, Poseidon swaggered around in a Hawaiian T-shirt and beach clothes, my dad commonly went around looking like an undead lawyer of doom, and Hecate looked like a demon-possessed pet store owner from Supernatural.

"Many fear me," Hecate said. "But magic is neither good nor evil. It is a tool, like a knife. Is a knife evil?"

"Only as bad as its user," I finished.

"Very good, Zytaveon. I see you've been practicing your skills with my Mist. Your own mother proves to be a good example of what my magic can do."

"What do you mean?"

"Your father came to me to help commission the rings that would aid in protecting and hiding you from Zeus. The very ones you wear now. Your mother wished to harness magic in her own way. That's how they met, you see. Even as a mere human, she learned to concentrate her own natural magic reserves, even if they were minuscule with no celestial blood coursing through her, and learned to see through the Mist. But seeing through the veil that protects humans made her a target of the monsters lurking within. By chance or by fate, she met Hades, who was dealing with a rogue hellhound that went after her. He saw her potential, and he decided to make a deal with her. He would teach her about the world of the gods and monsters, about her own abilities with magic so that she could defend herself, and she would give him her soul when she eventually died."

"Why would he want that? He can see  _any_  soul when they die."

"This deal was different. He rarely, if ever, makes such bargains. What he planned to do with her soul, I doubt even he knew at the time, but he wished to protect her, give her a chance. But interactions, especially long-term ones, with the gods come with prices. She accepted. She learned to use my magic quite proficiently, as though she were a demigod herself. And yet, she was still human, and Hades had fallen in love with her, produced you. That, Zeus could not ignore. I believe you understand the story from there. Your mothers and I both had interactions. Our paths were destined to cross, to that extent."

"My…my mother…" Hazel stammered. "She didn't believe in magic. Not really. She was just faking it, for the money."

The polecat - what was her name, Gale? - chattered and bared its teeth. Then, she made a squeaking sound from her back end. Under other circumstances, a polecat passing gas might have been funny, but no one laughed. The rodent's eyes glared at Hazel balefully, like tiny coals.

"Peace, Gale," Hecate said (Gale! I was right!). She gave Hazel an apologetic shrug. "Gale does not like hearing about nonbelievers and con artists. She herself was once a witch, you see."

"Your weasel was a witch?"

"She's a polecat, actually," I informed her.

"Yes, Gale was once a disagreeable human witch," Hecate continued. "She had terrible personal hygiene, plus extreme…ah, digestive issues." Hecate waved her hand in front of her nose. "It gave my other followers a bad name."

"Okay…" Hazel muttered, trying not to look at the polecat.

I couldn't blame her. Who wanted to know about the rodent's intestinal problems?

"At any rate, I turned her into a polecat. She's much better as a polecat."

Hazel swallowed and looked to the black dog, which was affectionately nuzzling the goddess's hand. "And your Labrador…?"

"Oh, she's Hecuba, the former queen of Troy," I remembered proudly.

" _No time for introductions!_ " She grunted.

"You're right, Hecuba," The goddess said. "We don't have time for long introductions. The point is, Hazel Levesque, your mother may have claimed not to believe, but she had true magic. Eventually, she realized this. When she searched for a spell to summon Pluto,  _I_  helped her find it."

"You…?"

"Yes." She continued circling us. "I saw potential in your mother. Much potential in  _both_  of your mothers. And naturally, I see even  _more_  potential in their children."

Hazel's head seemed to be spinning, going through confusion, realization, and then eventually anger. After all, her ability to summon riches from the earth resulted in anyone who used them to suffer and die. Dad had taught me a little about using my precious metals powers back when I had been in the Underworld before I went to Camp Jupiter, but I hadn't had the curse that Hazel did. I learned the ability from scratch, as opposed to Hazel who was born with the ability already active.

"My mother suffered because of that magic. My whole life-"

"Your life wouldn't have happened without me," Hecate said flatly. "I have no time for your anger. Neither do you. Without my help, you will die."

Hecuba snarled in agreement, while Gale snapped her teeth and passed gas.

"What kind of help?" I asked.

Hecate raised her pale arms. The three gateways she'd come from - north, east, and west - began to swirl with Mist. A flurry of black-and-white images glowed and flickered, like the old silent movies that were still playing in theaters around the time Hazel was small.

In the western doorway, Roman and Greek demigods in full armor fought one another on a hillside under a large pine tree that I recognized to be Camp Half-Blood. The grass was strewn with the wounded and the dying. Hazel was riding Arion, charging through the melee and shouting - trying to stop the violence. In the gateway to the east, we saw the Argo II, plunging through the sky above the Apennines. Its rigging was in flames, a boulder smashed into the quarterdeck, another punched through the hull, and the ship burst like a rotten pumpkin, the engine exploding. In the northern doorway we saw Leo, unconscious - or dead - falling through the clouds. Frank was staggering alone down a dark tunnel, clutching his arm, his shirt soaked in blood. And then there was Hazel in a vast cavern filled with strands of light like a luminous web. She was struggling to break through while, in the distance, Percy and Annabeth lay sprawled and unmoving at the foot of two black-and-silver metal doors.

"Choices," Hecate explained. "You stand at the crossroads, Hazel Levesque. And I am the goddess of crossroads."

By the gods, she was a Crossroads demon from Supernatural. Yeah, I'd been watching too much of that show.

The ground rumbled at Hazel's feet. I looked down and saw the glint of silver coins, thousands of old Roman denarii breaking the surface all around us, as if the entire hilltop was coming to a boil. She'd been so agitated by the visions in the doorways that she must have summoned every bit of silver in the surrounding countryside.

"The past is close to the surface in this place," Hecate continued. "In ancient times, two great Roman roads met here. News was exchanged; entire armies had to choose a direction. Crossroads are always places of decision."

"Like…like Janus," Hazel realized.

Back at the shrine of Janus on Temple Hill at Camp Jupiter, demigods would go there to make decisions. They would flip a coin, heads or tails, and hope the two-faced god would guide them well. I never understood why people would be willing to let a god take away their responsibility for choosing. Hey, I had choices that I had trouble making too - more than others, in fact, because I over-think things a lot - but that doesn't mean I'm going to a god to make the decision for me. It was like when I was taking a test in school and I had to answer some question - even if my friends gave me the answer that they had, I knew that they wouldn't necessarily be right. Just because I had an opinion to go off of, it didn't make my own decisions any easier if I was stumped.

The goddess of magic made a disgusted hiss. "Janus and his doorways. He would have you believe that all choices are black or white, yes or no, in or out. In fact, it's not that simple. Whenever you reach the crossroads, there are always at least  _three_  ways to go - four if you count going backwards. You are at such a crossing now, Hazel."

Hazel looked again at each swirling gateway: a demigod war, the destruction of the Argo II, disaster for herself and her friends. "All the choices are bad."

"All choices have risks," The goddess corrected. "But what is your goal?"

"My goal?" Hazel waved helplessly at the doorways. "None of these."

Hecuba snarled " _Foolish, naïve child. Can she not understand?_ "

" _They're always idiots,_ " Gale replied, skittering around the goddess's feet, farting and gnashing her teeth. " _They never see the bigger picture._ "

"You could go backwards," Hecate suggested. "Retrace your steps back to Rome…but Gaea's forces are expecting that. None of you will survive."

"So…what are you saying?"

Hecate stepped to the nearest torch. She scooped a handful of fire and sculpted the flames until she was holding a miniature relief map of Italy.

"You could go west." Hecate let her finger drift away from her fiery map. "Go back to America with your prize, the Athena Parthenos. Your comrades back home, Greek and Roman, are on the brink of war. Leave now, and you might save many lives."

" _Might_ ," Hazel repeated. "But Gaea is supposed to wake in Greece. That's where the giants are gathering."

"True. Gaea has set the date of August first, the Feast of Spes - goddess of hope - for her rise to power. By waking on the Day of Hope, she intends to destroy all hope forever. Even if you reached Greece by then, could you stop her? I do not know." Hecate traced her finger along the tops of the fiery Apennines. "You could go east, across the mountains, but Gaea will do anything to stop you from crossing Italy. She has raised her mountain gods against you."

"We noticed," I muttered.

"Any attempt to cross the Apennines will mean the destruction of your ship. Ironically, this might be the  _safest_  option for your crew. I foresee that all of you would survive the explosion. It is possible, though unlikely, you could still reach Epirus and close the Doors of Death. You might find Gaea and prevent her rise. But by then, both demigod camps would be destroyed. You would have no home to return to." Hecate smiled. "More likely, the destruction of your ship would strand you in the mountains. It would mean the end of your quest, but it would spare you and your friends much pain and suffering in the days to come. The war with the giants would have to be won or lost without you."

A small, guilty part of me found that appealing. It would be so easy if we could just give up, let the stupid war go on without us being dragged into it. We'd already been through so much. I didn't want any more pain or suffering for me and the rest of the crew. But this was something that we had to do. Giving up would leave us with regret for what we could've done. After all, sitting around doing nothing can be the most painful option. At least if we fail, we'll know that we tried.

Hazel looked behind Hecate at the middle gateway. She saw Percy and Annabeth sprawled helplessly before those black-and-silver doors. A massive dark shape, vaguely humanoid, now loomed over them, its foot raised as if to crush Percy.

"What about them?" Hazel asked, her voice ragged. "Percy and Annabeth?"

Hecate shrugged. "West, east, or south…they die."

"Not an option," Hazel said.

"Then you have only one path, though it is the most dangerous."

"If it's not dangerous, we're doing it wrong," I muttered.

Hecate's finger crossed her miniature Apennines, leaving a glowing white line in the red flames. "There is a secret pass here in the north, a place where I hold sway, where Hannibal once crossed when he marched against Rome."

The goddess made a wide loop to the top of Italy, then east into the sea, then down along the western coast of Greece.

"Once through the pass, you would travel north to Bologna, and then to Venice. From there, sail the Adriatic to your goal here: Epirus in Greece."

I knew that any sea was going to have its problems; the only thing I knew about Bologna was that it was a meat commonly spelled baloney; and the only thing I knew about Venice were stories about canals, gondolas, and a Doctor Who episode. The route was obviously going to hold its challenges, but it seemed like a clear enough path. There was only one thing that stood out.

"That's so far out of the way," Hazel realized.

"Which is why Gaea will not expect you to take this route," Hecate agreed. "I can obscure your progress somewhat, but the success of your journey will depend on you, Hazel Levesque. You must learn to use the Mist."

Hazel looked like a kid who'd just realized they had a constructed response test that they didn't study for. "Me? Use the Mist how?"

Hecate extinguished her map of Italy. "Zytaveon, do give her a demonstration."

I looked around. The entire area was thick with Mist, more Mist than I'd had exposure to on a regular basis. With this, I could basically do anything, even in my weakened state. I looked to the black dog Hecuba and snapped my fingers. Mist collected around the Labrador until she was completely hidden in a cocoon of white. The fog cleared with an audible  _poof!_  Where the dog had stood was a disgruntled-looking black kitten with golden eyes.

"Mew," It complained. " _I am a fierce hound, good sir! You dare insult me?!_ "

"Sorry," I said. "Just trying to make a point. Besides, kittens are both cute  _and_  deadly."

"I am the goddess of the Mist," Hecate explained. "I am responsible for keeping the veil that separates the world of the gods from the world of mortals. My children learn to use the Mist to their advantage, to create illusions or influence the minds of mortals. Other demigods can do this as well, such as your brother. And so must you, Hazel, if you are to help your friends."

"Why would I need to learn if Veon already knows how to?"

"He faces…many challenges ahead. He will not be able to support your crew on his own, not for your entire voyage. You must learn as well, if you wish to have any chance of aiding your friends in surviving this quest."

"But…"

Hazel looked at the cat. She knew that it was actually Hecuba, the black Labrador, but even  _knowing_  that it was just an illusion, she couldn't convince herself, see through the heavy layer of Mist cloaking the animal. The cat seemed so real to her, she felt she'd never be able to use the Mist, let alone in such a convincing manner.

"I can't do that."

"Your mother had the talent," Hecuba said. "You have even more. As a child of Pluto who has returned from the dead, you understand the veil between worlds better than most. Even the Kaze boy - who has returned from the dead in his own way, has his own understanding. You  _can_  control the Mist. If you do not…well, your brother Nico has already warned you. The spirits have whispered to him, told him of your future. When you reach the House of Hades, you will meet a formidable enemy. She cannot be overcome by strength or sword. Together, you and Zytaveon can defeat her, and you will require magic. Your brother will have his own troubles, and he cannot defeat this enemy on his own as well as complete his task."

Hazel paled as she remembered the conversation that we'd had with her. Nico's grim expression, his fingers digging into her arm. ' _You can't tell the others. Not yet. Their courage is already stretched to the limit._ '

"Who?" Hazel croaked. "Who is this enemy?"

"I will not speak her name," Hecate declared. "That would alert her to your presence before you are ready to face her. Go north, Hazel. As you travel, practice summoning the Mist. Your brother can attempt to teach you, but in the end, it will have to be you who learns to control it. When you arrive in Bologna, seek out the two dwarfs. They will lead you to a treasure that may help you survive in the House of Hades."

"I don't understand."

"Mew," Hecuba the kitten complain. " _Would somebody_ please _fix this?!_ "

"Oh, right," I muttered, snapping my fingers as the cat disappeared and the black Labrador was back in its place.

"You  _will_  understand, Hazel," The goddess promised. "From time to time, I will send Gale to check on your progress."

The polecat hissed, its beady red eyes full of malice.

"Wonderful," Hazel muttered.

"Before you reach Epirus, you must be prepared. If you succeed, then perhaps we will meet again…for the final battle."

A final battle? Inconceivable! Oh, joy. That was gonna be fun, wasn't it? I hated the gods' riddles and their unclear advice, and crossroads were  _so_  fun - not. But hey, what ya gonna do about it?

"Why are you helping us?" Hazel demanded. "At Camp Jupiter, they said you sided with the  _Titans_  during the last war."

Hecate's dark eyes glinted. "Because I  _am_  a Titan - daughter of Perses and Asteria. Long before the Olympians came to power, I ruled the Mist. Despite this, in the First Titan War, millennia ago, I sided with Zeus against Kronos. I was not blind to Kronos's cruelty. I hoped Zeus would prove a better king." She made a small, bitter laugh. "When Demeter lost her daughter, Persephone, kidnapped by  _your_  father, I guided Demeter through the darkest night with my torches, helping her search. And when the giants rose the first time, I again sided with the gods. I fought my archenemy Clytius, made by Gaea to absorb and defeat all my magic."

"Clytius," Hazel repeated, the name heavy as she spoke. She glanced at the images in the northern doorway - the massive dark shape looming over Percy and Annabeth. "Is he the threat in the House of Hades?"

"Oh, he waits for you there," Hecate said. "But first you must defeat the witch. Unless you manage that…"

She snapped her fingers, and all of the gateways turned dark. The Mist dissolved, the images gone.

"We all face choices," The goddess continued. "When Kronos arose the second time, I made a mistake. I supported him. I had grown tired of being ignored by the so-called  _major_  gods. Despite my years of faithful service, they mistrusted me, refused me a seat in their hall…"

Gale chattered angrily, spitting out a long speech as though  _she_  was the one who had been offended.

"But I have learned, as you demigods must as well, that leadership will never be perfect. When put beside each other, the Olympians prove to be an annoyance, but certainly better than the Titans, or worse, Gaea. I believe the saying is, 'Pick your poison.' I have made peace again with Olympus. Even now, when they are laid low - their Greek and Roman personas fighting each other - I will help them. Greek or Roman, I have always been only Hecate. I will assist you against the giants, if you prove yourself worthy. So now it is your choice, Hazel Levesque. Will you trust me…or will you shun me, as the Olympian gods have done too often?"

When I had first met Hecate, long ago while I was visiting Olympus, she was one of the gods that I felt I could sympathize with. She had gone through the routine cycle - aiding the gods, getting ticked off by them and turning against them, and then realizing that the gods were a best-case scenario, even if they  _were_ infuriating, and then making peace with them, a mutual ' _You stay out of my way, I stay out of yours,_ ' but coming to the god's aid when they were in troubling times, not really expecting a reward or even a thank you, but still doing what she could. She was a wise goddess, not exactly a cuckoo, cocky, crazy like Dionysus/Bacchus, not a self-centered, loony-bin who barely took anything seriously like Aphrodite/Venus, and not a condescending, overly-truthful sociopath like Nemesis. I could appreciate some of Nemesis's characteristics, but Hecate seemed like a more well-mannered version of her.

Of course, Hazel didn't seem to feel the same way. This was a dark goddess who'd given her mother the magic that ruined her life, the one whose power over the Mist made her seem like a Grim Reaper or a demon, merely asking in a polite way how she wished to die while dangling the small chance of success in front of her in order to trick her into having hope. She didn't much like Hecate's dog or her gassy polecat, either. But she also knew she couldn't let Percy and Annabeth die.

"I'll go north," She declared. "We'll take your secret pass through the mountains."

Hecate nodded, the slightest hint of satisfaction in her face. "You have chosen well, though the path will not be easy. Many monsters will rise against you. Even some of my  _own_  servants have sided with Gaea, hoping to destroy your mortal world. Prepare yourself, daughter of Pluto. If you succeed against the witch, we will meet again."

"I'll succeed," Hazel promised. "And Hecate? I'm not choosing one of your paths. I'm making my own."

The goddess arched her eyebrows, her polecat writhing and her dog snarling.

"We're going to find a way to stop Gaea," Hazel continued. "We're going to rescue our friends from Tartarus. We're going to keep the crew and the ship together,  _and_  we're going to stop Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood from going to war. We're going to do it all."

The storm howled, the black walls of the funnel cloud swirling faster.

I smiled. "Well, we  _are_  special demigods. We've performed miracles before."

"Interesting," Hecate said, as if Hazel were an unexpected result in a science experiment. "That would be magic worth seeing."

She waved her hand, and the Mist engulfed Hazel. She disappeared, leaving me in the darkened, Mist-filled ruins with Hecate.

"Now, son of Hades. You and I have much more to discuss. Alone."

* * *

First Person: Lucy

No, no, no, no, no, no.

"Chaos. Chaos! Where am I? What have you done?! Chaos!"

But I was merely shouting at nothing. I opened the window and stuck my head out, breathing in the morning air. Everything was so real. It couldn't be real, I knew that. I needed to get back to Tartarus, back to my body. If this was some kind of illusion made by Tartarus, something that tempted my soul into submitting to him instead of Chaos, then I needed to get out. I needed to go find Percy and Annabeth. They wouldn't survive without me.

"Stop shouting!" Veon yelled, his voice muffled by the layers of sheets he was under.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "You're gonna suffocate under there, you know."

"Shut up. 'M tryin' to sleep."

I had to admit that I understood what it was like to be pestered by someone when you just wanted to sleep, and I knew that if I kept him awake for too long, he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep no matter how much he wanted.

I sighed. "Goodnight."

"G'night."

I walked out of the bedroom and into the main area. The apartment had changed since I'd been here - meaning it actually looked like someone lived here. There was furniture - a couch, a coffee table, a TV sitting on a shelf, rugs, lamps, and even a couple plants. In the kitchen area, the sink and counter seemed to have been remade, and the shelves had been pained from white to a light brown. I walked over and looked inside to find that it was fully stocked with new dishes, glasses, and water bottles. The drawers had new silverware, and the mini-fridge had been replaced with an actual, taller-than-me, Samsung fridge.

It was much cozier than I remembered. I hadn't decorated at all back when I had lived here because I seldom stayed more than a night at a time, and didn't use anything more than the bed - and occasionally the couch - to sleep on. I had never found this place anything close to a home, the bare and empty apartment seeming like something from a horror film.

I walked over to the closet where I'd kept an emergency stash of weapons and found that it had actual coats inside, some bigger than others, and it confirmed that Veon and I apparently lived here  _together_. I had to admit that it wasn't a bad place to be - just living in a cozy apartment, no bigger than the two of us needed. I pushed past the coats and kneeled down, pushing a small panel in the wall that was barely noticeable unless you knew what you were looking for, and it opened up a small hatch, revealing the weapons I'd left there. Well, that was good too.

I looked through the drawers of the shelf under the TV and found some movies that the two of us could actually tolerate, and even some that Audrey must've left over or given as gifts, since I hadn't even heard of half of them - those in a separate row - as she was always trying to get us into movies. I found a bookshelf full of journals that I wrote in - noticing that the number had grown from what I remembered - as well as some textbooks: Physics, Chemistry, Greco-Roman history, and English books - and by that, I mean the books were teaching basic English to Japanese learners. It must've been for Kaze.

"Please don't tell me I'm going to college…"

I knew that I needed to continue my studies, but I had no intentions of going to a regular college, or even one in New Rome. I planned to home-school myself, or maybe take online courses. These books suggested they were from a college, but perhaps I  _was_  merely schooling myself through them.

I'll admit that I was more than tempted to find out more about my life in this world - out of sheer curiosity, it's not like I wanted to stay - but I concentrated on the task at hand. Of course, I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. Look for some sort of portal? Meditate till my ears popped to try and mentally break my way out? Maybe this was like the Void Beyond from Final Fantasy XIII-2 where you had to say no to an offer to stay.

I was honestly at a loss for what to do. This world was too real. It wasn't as simple as focusing and forcing the world away. I might as well have really been in my apartment, this world as real as my previous reality, for all the good my concentration would be. That would be like you, reading this story, trying to get into this world with me.

I looked around, finding pictures of me and Veon. We both looked like idiots in a couple of the pictures, either trying too hard to smile, caught at a bad angle, or just throwing on a smile that made us looked more nervous than happy. There were a couple ones where we simply broke out laughing, some with Audrey and Emily, even Kaze, as well as the other demigods - the seven of the Prophecy, Nico (as well as that guy Will from the Apollo cabin back at Camp Half-Blood), and then there was one that took me by surprise.

It was a picture of me and Kaze, but also my dad with his arm over my shoulder casually and Tsuchi leaning her arm on Kaze's head like he was an armrest. She was smiling in a cocky manner, yet she also just seemed to be messing with Kaze for the sake of messing with him. He was reaching up to push her away in the photo, but based on her calm expression, he was either failing or it was just before he managed to shove her off. Their eyes were completely normal, their skin still smooth, but not cracked or pale like porcelain.

Of course, then there was the third person I didn't expect, yet it wasn't someone I knew. It was a guy, taller than my dad just slightly, and I knew this because he had his arms around his neck as though he was trying to get a piggy-back ride. My dad was slightly pushed forward, his smile just barely disturbed, though it looked as though he was startled and the picture merely caught the millisecond before he scowled and shoved the guy away angrily. Classic case of a photo-bomber, but who was that supposed to be?

From what I could see, the guy had notably white hair, his arms were muscular, so he was definitely a fighter, and his hands didn't suggest he was an archer. From what I could see of the rest of his body, he did, in fact, have to jump to grab my dad from the angle he had, and he was wearing a white shirt that matched his hair, and then just jeans, but his feet were cut off. He had a cylinder at his side, clipped to one of his belt loops - Celestial bronze, probably a weapon that retracted.

Hoping to get more information, I pulled the photo out of the frame to look if there was anything on the back. Luckily, there was a note left in sharpie, but no date. ' ** _Godly photo-bomb_** _._ ' There was a crossed out ' ** _M,_** ' a crossed out ' ** _Dad,_** ' a crossed out ' ** _Uncle,_** ' and then finally a not-crossed out, ' ** _Ithuriel._** '

I flipped the photo again to look at the white-haired guy who must've been Ithuriel. The little note had said  _godly_  photo-bomb, but as far as I was aware, Ithuriel was an angel, commonly known for being from Cassandra Clair's  _Shadowhunters_ , but was also mentioned in other famous historical things, probably the most famous - and personally, most  _memorable_  - being  _Paradise Lost_. Ithuriel wasn't a god.

The crossed out 'M' could've been from any number of things, including a ' _My_ …' or possibly ' _Monkey_ ,' referring to how he was jumping my dad (okay that sounded wrong). The 'Dad' could've been the start of a longer phrase as well, such as ' _Dad get's attacked,_ ' or it could be referencing that this person was close enough to me that I'd refer to him as a dad. This was also backed up by the fact that 'Uncle' was the next thing written. Perhaps I'd considered calling him a dad, but instead downgraded him to uncle, and then downgraded him again by just calling him by his name.

I could wrack my brain all day, but that wasn't going to get me any answers. Perhaps I could ask Veon. But then again, he was going back to sleep, and I didn't want to be on the receiving end of a tired and grumpy Veon. Maybe I could ask Kaze. If I even knew where he was. Was he living in New Rome too, or was he at Camp Half-Blood? Same goes for my dad, not to mention Tsuchi. Was she living with Kaze?

And what about Order and Chaos? Surely after we'd rescued them, we'd still have contact. Then again, higher beings don't just stick around for funsies. Once you'd helped them, they were usually on their merry way and you never heard from them again.

Wait a minute,  _did_  we rescue Order and Chaos?

No! I was still trying. Dammit, I nearly forgot.

Still, this Ithuriel person was something I hadn't expected. Perhaps I could find out who he was.

But suddenly I was blasted back, like I'd been hit with a large gust of wind, and I instantly blacked out before I even hit the floor.


	4. Drinking Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, I have a problem. I couldn't find a way to split up this chapter. 10,000 words. I am so sorry all you dedicated readers (if you're out there), I don't like going over 8,000 even when I can't find a way to break up a chapter, and my initial goal was 4,000 per chapter.
> 
> Apologies.
> 
> For now, enjoy!
> 
> :)

First Person: Zytaveon

"Where is Lu? She wasn't with Percy and Annabeth in the north gate you showed Hazel."

"Because she will not be there, not with Percy and Annabeth, at least. You and she, Zytaveon, hold your own crossroads."

The crossroads images flickered to life again. The western door showed an image of my eyes glowing pure white, the eastern door showed my eyes pure black, and the northern gate showed my regular face, unaltered. At least, that's what I thought at first, before I realized my eyes were slightly glossed over. It was an image of me dead.

"What's this?" I demanded.

"You have paths leading only to pain. These are the only paths I can see. Beyond this, your future is blinded, cloudy, impossible, and invisible to even I. Yet these are the clearest options left to you. You will either host Chaos, Order, or you shall die. Of what? I cannot say. Hosting the Primordials will be naught but pain for you, whether you host Order or Chaos. However, your friend proves to be a contradiction."

The images changed again, western, eastern, and northern changing to an image of Lu - but one of her eyes was white, the other black - an image of her lying on the grass of a field - eyes open and blank, with a blue flower in her open hand - and finally, the only moving video of the lot. It showed a video of the two of us together, holding hands as we danced. We were absolutely terrible, and she was laughing it off. Though she did actually seem to be enjoying herself. Not to mention the fact that she was in an actual dress. It was a pure white dress that hugged her figure down to her hips before flaring out into a skirt part that went down to her knees. She was wearing black boots that went up her legs, leaving her knees the only part of her legs revealed, and the dress was sleeveless but still covered her chest and over her shoulders. It was basically everything she liked about a dress. Then there was me, whose only difference was that I was wearing a jacket from my choir tux with a white T-shirt.

"What's that?"

"A happy ending. Or at least, a mere dream of one. Though it looks appealing at first glance, there is a malice hidden beneath the image. She is trapped in that place, a place she believes she is happy, a dream where she can be forever who she wishes, have anything and anyone she wants with her."

"And did she  _choose_  to be there?"

"In a way, yes. She could choose not to accept the reality laid before her, but whether she can escape it or not remains to be seen. Everything with her is…blurry. I can't predict her future; I can barely predict the crossroads that she faces. Both of you are contradictions that even  _I_  cannot fully predict. In the end, I can predict what all can predict. You will face your demise one way or another, you will suffer through many choices and hardships, and the Primordials will play a large role in your future. Will you face death from Order, or Chaos? Will you find your friend or will you lose her? What shall become of you in your uncertain future, and how will you react to it? All interesting questions. You are quite a mystery, Zytaveon. After all, a proper host of Chaos doesn't appear every day. You will be quite amusing to observe."

"Gee, thanks."

"I shall allow you the assistance of my Mist. It can aid you in hiding your condition from your fellow crewmates and help buy you time in sustaining Order. However, when you reach the House of Hades, you may need to use the extra reserves of Mist I give you. You can bend the natural Mist as you normally have without expending the extra that I give you, however, if you wish to perform bigger tasks in shorter amounts of time, you may need to use your sustaining Mist as a last resort. Be warned that my Mist cannot completely halt the degradation process put upon you, it will merely slow it down. The less Mist you have sustaining you, the less it can do to delay the process. Once all of the Mist is gone, I predict you won't have much remaining time to either transfer Order back to your friend and take in Chaos instead, or you shall die, along with the Primordial within you, the Primordial within her, as well as all their creations."

"And how will I be able to do that, if she's not going to come through the Doors of Death?"

"That…is a very complicated answer. Another blurred future that I cannot foresee. The two of your destinies are intertwined, so much so that I even have trouble distinguishing between the two of your futures, your souls."

"The only thing that's certain is some crazy hell is about to go down, right?"

"Metaphorically speaking, but hopefully literally as well. You shall face hardships with the Pit, as well."

I chuckled. "What else is new?"

"Good luck, Zytaveon Kanazoi. Oh, and don't forget your dear mother is a great and powerful witch. You should consider using her power more often."

A wave of darkness blotted out the world. I felt the Mist consume me, make the world spin just a bit, and when my vision returned, the storm, the goddess, and her minions were gone. I was standing next to Hazel on the hillside in the morning sunlight. Hazel seemed to just open her eyes, as though no time had passed since she was consumed by the Mist so that I could talk to Hecate. Arion and Zoltan were pacing, Arion nickering impatiently and Zoltan complaining about Arion's complaining.

" _Can we go already?_ " Arion asked.

" _They're here, we can go,_ " Zoltan said.

" _Finally!_ "

" _Yes, indeed._ Finally _, you can shut up._ "

"Let's get out of here," I translated, mounting my horse.

Hazel seemed more than eager to hop onto her horse as we sped back over to the Argo II.

"What happened?" Leo asked as we dismounted aboard the Argo II once more.

Hazel's hands were still shaking from the talk with the goddess. My Mist illusion had wrapped around me, and I hadn't realized how weak I had been now that I was recovered. I glanced back over the rail and saw the dust of the horses' wake stretching across the hills of Italy. I hoped that we'd see them again, but I couldn't blame them for wanting to get away from this place as fast as possible. Still, if they'd stayed, their speed would've been really helpful. The countryside sparkled as the summer sun hit the morning dew. On the hill, the old ruins stood white and silent - no sign of ancient paths, or goddesses, or farting weasels.

"Hazel?" Nico asked.

Her knees buckled. We helped her over to the steps of the foredeck. I knew that meeting Hecate had to have shaken her, not to mention meeting her at one of her crossroads, no less. It was only a matter of time before she lost it, but at the very least, she was in much better condition than she could've been.

I explained the situating about meeting Hecate, but didn't tell everything. Like Nico had said, their courage is already stretched to the limit. But we explained the secret northern pass through the mountains, and the detour Hecate described that could take us to Epirus.

Once we were done, Nico took Hazel's hand, his eyes full of concern. "You guys met Hecate at a  _crossroads_. That's…that's something many demigods don't survive. And the ones who  _do_  survive are never the same. Are you sure you're-?"

"I'm fine," Hazel insisted quickly.

But I knew that she wasn't. She had been bold and angry, telling the goddess that she'd find her own path and succeed at everything. Now her boast seemed ridiculous, her adrenaline rush gone and her courage abandoning her.

"Hecate was there to help us," I said. "Even she knows what's at stake if we fail here. The meeting wasn't a normal one. She knew we'd be fine in the end, but obviously warned us that there is no easy way forward, not a big surprise. She gave us a path to follow, and the chance to accomplish all our goals. As far as I'm aware, that's invaluable right now."

"What if Hecate is tricking us?" Leo asked. "This route could be a trap."

Hazel shook her head. "If it was a trap, I think Hecate would've made the northern route sound tempting. Believe me, she didn't."

Leo pulled a calculator out of his tool belt and punched in some numbers. "That's…something like three hundred miles out of our way to get to Venice. Then we'd have to backtrack down the Adriatic. And you said something about baloney dwarfs?"

"Dwarfs in Bologna," I corrected. "Bologna is a city, I assume. Hecate said they might have some sort of treasure that could help us with the quest."

"Huh. I mean, I'm all about treasure, but-"

"It's our best option," Nico declared, pulling Hazel to her feet. "We have to make up for lost time, travel as fast as we can. Percy, Annabeth, and Lu's lives might depend on it."

"Fast?" Leo grinned. "I can do fast."

He hurried to the console and started flipping switches.

Nico pulled the two of us out of earshot. "What else did Hecate say? Anything about-?"

Hazel cut him off. "I can't."

"Look, Hecate's trying to help, but she can come off a bit strong," I agreed. "The crossroads combined with the magnitude of our quest can be overwhelming."

The images Hazel had seen had to have overwhelmed her: Percy and Annabeth helpless at the feet of the black metal doors, the dark giant looming over them, Hazel herself trapped in a glowing maze of light, unable to help. Not to mention that Lu wasn't going to come through the Doors, and who the hell knows where I was? ' _You must defeat the witch,_ ' Hecate had said. ' _Together, you and Zytaveon can defeat her. Unless you manage that…_ ' Game over. All gateways close. All hope extinguished.

Nico and I had communed with the dead, heard them whispering hints about the future. The three children of the Underworld would enter the House of Hades. They would face an impossible foe, and one wouldn't make it to the Doors of Death. Hazel couldn't meet her brother's eyes.

"I'll tell you later," She promised, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "Right now, we should rest while we can. Tonight, we cross the Apennines."

* * *

First Person: Lucy

I woke up on the ground with shards of glass digging into my skin. My face was the most sensitive, and the only thing exposed other than my hands. I pushed myself to sit up, carefully removing any shards that had pierced me. The small cuts didn't heal, but ones that were deeper and bleeding heavily began to seep a black smoke before they sealed into scars, still covered in blood. The Primordials, who cares witch, were going to be looking after me during this trip. But neither was going to make it a joy-ride, that was for sure.

I grabbed Veon's lance and hauled myself to my feet, my limbs still aching. Being in that fake world - maybe a dream, maybe something else - had healed all my injuries. I could adjust to pain, but having it completely cleared up before having it smacked in your face again was the real kicker.

I sighed, but if I was back in Tartarus, it meant that there was something I had to do in that dreamworld, while something else was trying to keep me here. One Primordial wanted me to go to a happy place, and the other wanted me to face reality here. I could only assume that it was Tartarus trying to make me docile in the dreamland so he could easily take over and Chaos had woke me up, but who knows? Possibly Chaos was trying to get me into a safe place to concentrate on the Trials while Tartarus was trying to keep me in - ahem - Tartarus.

In any case, the priority now was to find Percy and Annabeth. I could figure out the rest later.

I headed in the direction of Cocytus, my body still able to function, at least. I was both freezing and hot at the same time, my insides were burning, my skin was stinging in all the places I was cut, but at least I was still in good enough condition that I could power through it. It wasn't a very long trek to get to them, but when I found them, they were lying on the glassed beach beside the river, right where I'd left them. Either not a lot of time had passed, or they'd stayed here to recover their energy. Or take in the futility of their situation, but hey, semantics.

Percy coughed. "This place smells like my ex-stepfather."

I smiled. I'd heard stories about Smelly Gabe. Sally was a nice woman, and I was glad that Percy had been able to help her with that little situation. At least Percy was still in good enough shape to try and brighten the mood. If Annabeth had come here alone after everything with the Mark of Athena, she probably would've broken down already.

"How's your ankle?" I asked, kneeling beside Annabeth and leaning on Veon's lance.

"Zy! You're okay!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah. Glad to see you too. And about that ankle?"

She looked down at her foot still wrapped in its makeshift cast of board and Bubble Wrap and cobwebs. She moved it carefully, but didn't seem to be in pain. "It's good, I think."

The ambrosia she'd eaten in the tunnels under Rome must've finally mended her bones. She didn't have her backpack on her anymore - lost during the fall, or maybe washed away in the river. Losing Daedalus's original laptop was a shame, but I'd commissioned Kaze to examine the thing and he was working on making a replica last I heard. Well, I guess now I had a birthday present for Annabeth. Her Celestial bronze dagger, which she'd had since she was seven years old, was missing, and that was something that could be replaced with another weapon, but the sentimentality was impossible to get back. I knew that I'd I lost a weapon of that importance, I'd be crushed, but we had more to worry about right now.

No food, no water…basically no supplies at all besides my small emergency rations of ambrosia, my myriad of weapons, and very little power left within me. Yep, off to a promising start.

I looked over to Percy. His dark hair was plastered across his forehead, his T-shirt ripped to shreds. His fingers were scraped raw from holding on to that ledge before the two of them had fallen. Most worrisome of all, he was shivering and his lips were blue.

"We need to keep moving or you'll get hypothermia," I announced. "Can you stand?"

He nodded, and the two of them struggled to their feet. Annabeth put her arm around his waist, though it wasn't clear who was supporting whom. Looking up, there was no sign of the tunnel we'd fallen through, and there wasn't even a cavern roof - just blood-colored clouds floating in the hazy gray air. It was like staring through a thin mix of tomato soup and cement. The black-glass beach stretched inland about fifty yards, then dropped off the edge of a cliff. From the angle we stood at, we couldn't see what was below, but the edge flickered with red light as if illuminated by huge fires.

" ** _Fire…_** "

Something about the idea of fire sparked an idea. I'm not sure where it came from, but I knew that I had an extreme urge to go and search for the source.

Percy inhaled sharply. "Look."

He pointed downstream. A hundred feet away, a familiar-looking baby-blue Italian car had crashed headfirst into the sand. It looked just like the Fiat that had smashed into Arachne and sent her plummeting into the pit. ( **AN: Wasn't the Fiat that did that red?** )

It was possible we were wrong in that assumption, but how many Italian sports cars could there be in Tartarus? Annabeth gripped Percy's hand and they stumbled towards the wreckage with me following behind. One of the car's tires had come off and was floating in a black-water eddy of the Cocytus, the Fiat's windows had shattered, sending brighter glass like frosting across the dark beach, and under the crushed hood lay the tattered, glistening remains of a giant silk cocoon - the trap that Annabeth bad tricked Arachne into weaving. It was evidently empty, slash marks trailing downriver, as if something heavy with multiple legs had scuttled into the darkness.

"She's alive," Annabeth said with dread.

"Well, isn't  _that_  just  _cheery?_ " I muttered sarcastically.

"It's Tartarus," Percy reasoned. "Monster home court. Down here, maybe they can't be killed."

He gave Annabeth an embarrassed look, as if realizing he wasn't helping team morale.

"Or maybe she's badly wounded, and she crawled away to die."

"Let's go with that," Annabeth agreed.

Percy and Annabeth were still shivering from the cold of the river, despite the hot, sticky air. The glass cuts on us were still bleeding, which was unusual, considering that even if Annabeth and Percy didn't heal fast, I healed like a mutant because of my Apollo genes. It wasn't much of a surprise that Tartarus wasn't making this easy. Even if he wanted me alive, that didn't mean that he was going to make my time spent here nice.

"This place is killing us," I announced. "I mean, it's  _literally_  going to kill us, unless…"

" ** _Tartarus. Fire._** "

A memory seemed to come into focus, as though it was forcing the way to the front of my mind. It was an absolutely crazy idea, but it might be the only chance of helping Percy and Annabeth. It was dangerous, but the small chance that it might actually work made me feel like I'd just come up with a great idea for one of my stories: euphoric.

"Unless what?" Percy prompted. "You've got a brilliant plan?"

"It's a plan," I admitted. "I don't know about brilliant, but it's an idea, and it's a goal. We need to find the River of Fire. And I think we already have."

I looked over to the cliff ledge at the end of the beach. Percy and Annabeth shared a nervous glance, but also the acceptance that they didn't have many options left. They didn't know how to survive, let alone where they were supposed to be going, if they'd be able to accomplish their task, and really anything at all.

We made our way over to the edge of the cliff, looking down to see the cliff dropped more than eighty feet. At the bottom stretched a nightmarish version of the Grand Canyon: a river of fire cutting a path through a jagged obsidian crevasse, the glowing red current casting horrible shadows across the cliff faces. Even from the top of the canyon, the heat was intense. The chill of the River Cocytus left Annabeth and Percy freezing to the bone, but the heat now made their faces feel raw and sunburned. Every breath taken took more effort, as if my chest was filled with Styrofoam peanuts. The cut on my arms, legs, hands, and face seemed to bleed  _more_  rather than less.

" ** _Fire…_** "

I knew that this river didn't mean anything good on the surface, but something pulled at me. I needed to get down there. It would be in my benefit, it would be in Percy and Annabeth's benefit. We should go. I examined the cliff and found a tiny fissure running diagonally from the edge to the bottom.

"There. Come on."

Annabeth still looked hesitant, but Percy shrugged. "We can try. Might be able to climb down."

She noticed that he managed to sound hopeful, though she still seemed concerned that we were going to our doom. I couldn't help but feel scared that I could end up killing them because I could take any risk I wanted and the Primordials would keep me alive, but they were fair game to any monster or accident down here. Of course, if they stayed here, they would die anyway. Blisters had already formed on our skin from exposure to the Tartarus air, and the whole environment was about as healthy as a nuclear blast zone.

I climbed down first, hoping to map out places that were unstable and take the risk before them. Veon's lance didn't seem to be working - I couldn't use it to fly and its power seemed to be extremely weakened, if not non-existent. It wasn't even able to retract down into cuff-form, so I clipped it to my belt and moved to climb down.

The ledge was barely wide enough to allow a toehold, and my hands clawed for any crack in the glassy rock. Percy came in behind me with Annabeth last, though her ankle seemed to be troubling her again thanks to the river's aura, as every time she put pressure on her bad foot, she looked ready to yelp. She'd ripped off the sleeves of her T-shirt and used the cloth to wrap her bloody palms, but her fingers were still slippery and weak. I had been on rock climbing walls before, and I had been in plenty of situations in my life on the run where I'd had to hold on for my life on rock walls. I may not have been skilled at gym class, but I knew how to turn on my survival-mode where pushing myself was a do-or-die situation.

A few steps above me, Percy grunted as he reached for another handhold. "So…what is this fire river called?"

"The Phlegethon," I relayed.

"The  _Phlegethon?_ " He shinnied along the ledge. We'd made it roughly a third of the way down the cliff - still high enough up to die if Annabeth and Percy fell. "Sounds like a marathon for hawking spitballs."

I was forced to stop as a laugh swept through me and broke my concentration. "A marathon for Phlegs is what I thought when I first heard of it."

"Please don't make me laugh," Annabeth said, seemingly finding the same problem.

"Just trying to keep things light," Percy said.

"Thanks," She grunted, nearly missing the ledge with her bad foot. "I'll have a smile on my face as I plummet to my death."

"Well, you'd probably be the first," I said. "Go down in the Guinness Book of Tartarus Records."

We kept going, one step at a time. My eyes stung with sweat, my arms trembling as the fatigue ate away at my strength, but I just mentally kept intervals, each goal getting me closer to safety and renewing my drive more and more the closer we got and the less time we had until we could relax. We finally managed to make it to the bottom, and I was quick to hop out of the way so that Percy and Annabeth could get off as soon as possible after me, because I knew that every second they were up there had become hell for their arms.

When Annabeth came off last, she stumbled, Percy catching her. I was alarmed by the red boils that had erupted on their faces, making them look like smallpox victim. My own vision was becoming blurry, my throat feeling blistered, and my stomach clenched tighter than a fist. We needed to hurry.

"Just to the river," I urged. "Come on. We can make it."

We staggered over the slick glass ledges, around massive boulders, avoiding stalagmites that would've impaled us with any slip of the foot. Our tattered clothes steamed from the heat of the river (My poor beloved jacket!), but we kept going until we crumpled to our knees at the banks of the Phlegethon.

"We all have to drink," I commanded.

Percy swayed, his eyes half-closed. It took him a three-count to respond. "Uh…drink fire?"

My throat felt worse than a day's worth of singing crazy-high notes in choir class, my throat closing up from the heat and the acidic air. "The Phlegethon flows from Hades's realm down into Tartarus. The river is used to punish the wicked, but some legends call it the River of Healing."

" _Some_  legends?"

"Only some of them get it  _right_ ," I corrected. "The Phlegethon keeps the wicked in one piece so that they can endure the torments of the Fields of Punishment. Take it from the healer who had a Primordial deity within her, it's the Underworld equivalent of ambrosia and nectar. Heck, that very deity was the one who  _made_  this river in the first place for that reason. She has that sadistic side where she heals just for more suffering. You get used to it."

"Where  _is_  that goddess, anyway?"

"She can't come to Tartarus to get Chaos, obviously, or she'd be trapped down here too. I came here instead of Veon, so I don't have her anymore. I'm working on getting Chaos's trials, but Tartarus is interfering for obvious reasons. Any chance of your survival down here is going to come from here and here alone."

Percy winced as cinders sprayed from the river, curling around his face. "But it's fire. How can we-?"

"Like this," Annabeth said, thrusting her hands into the river.

It was rash, especially for her, but she knew that if they waited any longer, they would pass out and die. Better to try something foolish and hope it worked. I thrust my hands in beside her, knowing that this was going to be just as fun as taking one of those large allergy pills - it's better to just get it over with. On first contact, the fire wasn't painful. It was cold, which actually meant it was  _so_  hot it was overloading my nerves. But I had resorted to Phlegethon fire before (long story involving a trip to talk to someone in the Fields of Punishment) and I knew that the river was painful, but it wasn't meant to kill anyone.

The first time was always the worst, like downing a ghost chili smoothie. And it wasn't like it got any better; you just knew to expect the pain. My sinuses filled with liquid flame, my mouth felt like it was being deep-fried, my eyes shed boiling tears, and every pore on my face popped. Annabeth collapsed beside me, gagging and retching, her whole body shaking violently. I leaned forward and leaned on my arms as the fire spread through me and I powered through it.

"Annabeth!" Percy shouted, grabbing her arms and just managing to stop her from rolling into the river.

The convulsions passed a moment later, and I breathed as I finally felt the healing over the pain. It was like a cool down after a battle or just exercising in general, the fatigue feeling good, or at least better. My muscles still felt weak and I was holding down some nausea as well, but my breaths came to me much easier afterwards. The blisters on my skin started to fade, and some of my deeper cuts began to seal themselves.

"It worked," Annabeth croaked. "Percy, you've got to drink."

"I…"

His eyes rolled up in his head, and he slumped against her.

"Get some in his mouth!" I ordered.

Annabeth desperately cupped more fire in her palm, ignoring the pain and dripping the liquid into Percy's mouth. I put my hand over his forehead and forced his swallow motion to activate using my regained strength.

"More, Annabeth!"

She poured a whole handful down his throat, and this time he spluttered and coughed. Annabeth held him as he trembled, the magical fire coursing through his system. His fever disappeared, his boils faded, and he managed to sit up and smack his lips.

"Ugh," He said. "Spicy, yet disgusting."

Annabeth and I laughed weakly, and Annabeth's relief made her feel light-headed. "Yeah. That pretty much sums it up."

"You saved us, Zy."

"Call me Lucy, or Lu, Luce, Cee, or Lee if you're feeling like it. I don't really mind how many ways you break up my name. I'm not Zyanya anymore. Zyanya is a goddess, a woman hosting a goddess. I'm just me right now. Anyway, we're safe for now."

"The problem is, we're still in Tartarus," Annabeth pointed out.

Percy blinked. He looked around as if just coming to terms with where they were. "Holy Hera. I never thought…well, I'm not sure  _what_  I thought. Maybe that Tartarus was empty space, a pit with no bottom. But this is a  _real_  place."

I chuckled weakly. "Yeah, well I first believed that Tartarus was some kind of jail and torture chamber. You know, with a building, metal bars, and chains. And we haven't even seen anything close to all of it. Remember those series of plateaus leading downward we saw when falling? This is the easiest level, my friends. It only gets worse from here."

"The welcome mat," Percy suggested.

We gazed up at the blood-colored clouds swirling in the gray haze. Even if I had the strength to muster out the dedication and strength to make it back up that cliff, there was no way Annabeth and Percy would be able to climb out even if they wanted to. Now there were only two choices: upriver or downriver, skirting the banks of the Phlegethon.

"We'll find a way out," Percy said. "The Doors of Death."

I remembered what Percy had said just before they had fallen into Tartarus. He'd made Nico promise to lead the Argo II to Epirus, to the mortal side of the Doors of Death. ' _We'll see you there_ ,' Percy had said. That idea seemed even crazier than drinking fire, especially considering that Percy hadn't even known that I was going to come down here with him as well to complete the trials. Or maybe he just assumed that Veon would go along with the plan anyway and go down with them anyway. But I doubted that Percy had much hope when he'd let go, making some kind of thought-out plan.

Even with me down here, trying to figure out some way to conquer the trials, we'd barely been able to stumble a hundred yards in this poisonous place without dying. How were we supposed to navigate the deeper parts of Tartarus and find the Doors of Death in time? I didn't know how this trial thing was supposed to work, I didn't know if I was even going to be compatible for Chaos, or even if I  _did_  get his power that I'd even have instant access to it. What if it took time to charge back up? What if Tartarus was still able to nullify the power of Chaos while I was still down here in his realm?

"We have to," Percy continued. "Not just for us. For everybody we love. The Doors have to be closed on both sides, or the monsters will just keep coming through. Gaea's forces will overrun the world."

I knew he was right, but I took into consideration what we had to do. Even though we knew the Doors were down here, we didn't know exactly where. Gaea could chain the Doors, but that didn't mean she had the ability to move them freely. She could either keep it in place, or let it go free to shift locations randomly until it was where she needed it. She and Tartarus didn't necessarily have it in the deepest part of the Pit, but it was going to be swarming with monsters lining up to get back into the world of the living. Not to mention the fact that we needed to be as synchronized with Nico's group as much as we could. Did time in Tartarus work the same as up in the mortal world? If not, was it faster or slower?

I knew not to mention any of the concerns I had. I was said to be the one always looking at the glass-half-empty side of life, but that's pretty much what a demigod was destined to think like or die. Or, at the very least, have very bad days with. Then again, I was also the person who said that the glass was refillable, or that it was dirty, or wondering what was in the glass in the first place. Might as well look on the odd side rather than the negative one, right?

"Well," I began, taking a deep breath, relieved that my lungs didn't hurt. "If we stay close to the river, we'll have a way to heal ourselves."

"So we can stay alive," Annabeth concluded. "And what about these trials of yours that get Chaos's powers?"

"I'm working on them," I said. "I don't exactly know what I'm supposed to do, though. But I know that I was able to get into the…dreamworld of the trials, but now I need to figure out what I need to do."

"What did you see in there?"

"A vision of New Rome, living a happy life. I didn't have a lot of time to ask questions before I was kicked back out again. I'll go back and see what I can find next time that I do."

"It could try and trick you into staying and accepting that life," Annabeth considered.

"I know. I've thought about that. I'll handle it, but I can't control when I go in and out, and I don't know if time passes relatively. I need to figure out how to complete the trials, and figure out what they want from me in the first place."

"So until then, we need to start making our way towards the Doors and hope you get that power in time."

"Pretty much sums it up."

"So, up or downstream? I mean, down seems like the more logical option, since down goes deeper into Tartarus, right? Gaea and Tartarus may not be able to put it in the best possible location, but deeper is the only logical place they'd put it. Besides, there aren't any monsters around here, and like Nico said, there'd be a large swarm of monsters that wouldn't be hidden considering that we saw a large deal of the place when we came. So going downstream-"

My hand twitched, and I grabbed my bow to swing it behind us, knowing that I would hit something, but unable to process what I planned to hit. It happened so fast, Annabeth would've been dead if she were alone. I ended up smacking a massive dark shape, a snarl screeching out upon impact - a monstrous blob with spindly barbed legs and glinting eyes. It quickly rolled to its feet again from the attack and I realized that it was Arachne. There was a familiar ' _shink_ ' of Percy's ballpoint pen transforming into a sword, and I nocked an arrow to fire at the spider's mouth as she charged again. A screech echoed through the canyon, and Percy swung his sword in a glowing bronze arc. A final horrible wail went out through the air, before all that was left of Arachne was yellow dust raining down around us like tree pollen.

Annabeth was standing there in shock, everything happening so fast that she barely had time to realize what we'd killed.

"You okay?" Percy asked.

The two of us scanned the cliffs and boulders, alert for more monsters, but nothing else appeared. I worried that Arachne had caused enough of a fuss to draw attention, and it was only a matter of time before something took interest, but the area had seemed clear enough when we'd first fallen into Tartarus. Unless the Titans that I'd killed earlier had reformed already - which was unlikely, considering that the power of either Tartarus or Chaos had killed them when it had entered me - there wasn't a monster for miles. The golden dust of the spider settled on the obsidian rocks, and was slightly unsettling, but it didn't look like she was instantly reforming. For now, we were safe.

Riptide's Celestial bronze blade glowed even brighter in the gloom of Tartarus. As it passed through the thick, hot air, it made a defiant hiss like a riled snake. I was concerned that if Riptide wasn't able to stay drawn without having to waste energy on fighting the aura of Tartarus that Percy should keep it out sparingly, but it seemed to be doing just fine.

"She…s-she would've killed me," Annabeth stammered.

Percy kicked the dust on the rocks, his expression grim and dissatisfied. "She died too easy, considering how much torture she put you through. She deserved worse."

"Death is always like that," I said. "Vendettas and revenge. Even if you kill the person you hate, it's never as satisfying as you think it is."

"How did you move so fast?" Annabeth asked.

Percy shrugged. "Gotta watch each other's backs, right?"

"Natural instincts," I explained. "Learned to know that threats are everywhere before I was five, and even when I tried to settle down, I never got rusty. Now, downstream?"

Annabeth nodded, still in a daze. The yellow dust dissipated on the rocky shore, turning into steam. At least now we knew monsters could be killed in Tartarus, though we didn't know how long she'd stay dead. I knew we wouldn't be staying long enough to find out.

"Yeah, downstream," Annabeth managed. "If the river comes from the upper levels of the Underworld, it should flow deeper into Tartarus-"

"So it leads into more dangerous territory," Percy finished. "Which is probably where the Doors are. Lucky us."

We all picked ourselves up, and I checked my guns to see if they were going to work in the Tartarus air. They were made from Celestial bronze and Imperial gold together, along with a bit of Damascus steel, since I wanted to be able to hit things other than monsters in case of emergency and Damascus steel sounded so cool when I heard of it. Of course, without the goddess, my bags that I'd enchanted to give me infinite ammo was now very finite. I only had three extra magazines, one quiver of arrows - one arrow now broken from shooting Arachne - and my own powers weren't very strong at the moment. Thanks to the river, I didn't feel on the verge of death being forced to continue to live, but I was still in pretty bad condition. I couldn't waste energy on healing small things that had healed without me even realizing it before. It was liking going through withdrawal after a drug addiction. My body was still getting used to being without Order's power, and instead, having to get used to the dark powers of Tartarus and Chaos.

So yeah, this was going to be a joyride.

We'd only traveled a few hundred yards when we heard voices. We plodded along, half in a stupor, trying to figure out a plan. Of course, as a daughter of Athena, plans were supposed to be Annabeth's specialty, but it was kinda hard to strategize with her stomach growling and her throat baking. The fiery water of the Phlegethon may have healed us and given us strength, but it didn't do anything for hunger or thirst. It would keep them alive, but it wouldn't make it painless. Just like everything here in Tartarus, I supposed. It wasn't like the river was about making you feel good. It kept you going so that you could experience more excruciating pain. Joy.

We made our way forward, Percy and Annabeth looking exhausted, and I knew that I wasn't much better. It was best not to concentrate on the pain and you could block it out, but I knew that my limbs were shouting that I needed a break, not just from the exertion, but from the air itself, this place. Then, we heard them - female voices having some sort of argument - and we were instantly on alert.

"Down!" I hissed.

I pulled them behind the nearest boulder, wedging so close against the riverbank that my shoes almost touched the river's fire. On the other side, in the narrow path between the river and the cliffs, voices snarled, getting louder as they approached from upstream. I tried to keep my body under control, taking quiet, shallow breaths, and relaxing my muscles so that they rested and didn't push against anything that might lead to a stray rock or something making a sound. My mind buzzed with panic, I could feel adrenaline rushing through me, but I knew that I needed to stay calm right now and pushed it all down as best I could.

The voices sounded vaguely human, but that meant nothing. Anything in Tartarus was our enemy, and there were plenty of monsters that wanted to kill Percy and Annabeth, particularly Percy. I wondered how they'd failed to spot us already. After all, monsters could  _smell_  demigods - especially a son of Poseidon and a…well, a  _me_.

My mother didn't have children, heck, she didn't even interact with humans at all. My father had told me the story of how she had come and possessed a woman that he'd saved in a hospital, as my mother had given her strength to live, making her compatible for a host, and he had had to show her around the world. He had said that she had to go back, as gods weren't supposed to interfere with human lives, and possessing one without their knowledge was a violation of that rule, but he always told me she was looking out for us somewhere. I had always wondered why she didn't just take up another host and stay with us, but it was the whole thing about not staying after having a child, I assumed. Being the daughter of a rare goddess, an adopted daughter of Zeus (for reasons that were complicated) as well as a son of Apollo gave me a big target on my back. One of two hosts for the power of Primordials didn't help either.

Still, as the monsters got nearer, their voices didn't change in tone. Their uneven footsteps -  _scrap, clump, scrap, clump_  - didn't get any faster or slow down, indicating that they sensed us. But logic here worked differently. It could be that the air of Tartarus made our scent untraceable, it could've been the fire of the Phlegethon cloaking us because of our proximity, or it could've been Tartarus or Chaos, cloaking me to either protect me (Chaos) or cloaking me to make sure that I wasn't disturbed (Tartarus), as they both had some reason to want me alive, sadistic or not, and were protecting Percy and Annabeth to that extent.

"Soon?" One of them asked in a raspy voice, as if she'd been gargling in the Phlegethon.

"Oh my gods!" Said another voice, much younger and much more human, like a teenaged mortal girl getting exasperated with her friends at the mall (believe me, I'd know; I'd been in that position before). "You guys are  _totally_  annoying! I told you, it's like three  _days_  from here."

Percy gripped Annabeth's wrist, looking at her with alarm. Both of them seemed to recognize the voice. Sound was one of my specialties, and even without Order's power boost, I could recognize a voice. I would always try and challenge myself when I played videogames or watched cartoons, trying to connect voice actors, but this voice was unfamiliar to me, something that bugged me deeply. Well, I knew it now.

There was a chorus of growling and grumbling. The creatures - maybe half a dozen based on what I could make out, the number of footsteps, the number of grumbles, etc. Every sound, however small, was allowing me to make out a bit of the scene, like sonar. I had learned to use this to my advantage back when I was on my own, surviving as a child after my father had died and left me alone at only age four.

With my father found dead when I was little, I knew that I couldn't be taken in by the authorities. They didn't suspect me for his murder or anything - he was torn to shreds by a 'wild animal' - but they knew something about me, about being a demigod. We had been in Britain at the time, where I learned my first bit of English, but my father also forced me to learn Japanese to communicate with him (Chinese being so similar that it wasn't hard to pick up that too). They knew I was different. They had been tracking dozens of demigods and taking them away under many different circumstances, though I couldn't tell you if they were deliberate or not. My dad and I faced the occasional monster attack, and we drew attention.

I broke out of the holding facility that they'd kept me in. I learned that no one took me seriously as a four-year-old. I couldn't buy things, so I stole; I couldn't get people to listen to anything I had to say, so I didn't talk to people; I couldn't live anywhere without getting taken in, so I lived on the wild side, taking my father's teachings to their fullest extent and also learning on my own. I hunted, I learned to keep what I had close, I learned the best places to hide and sleep throughout different times of the year so that I didn't freeze to death, I learned how to steal without tripping off alarms or getting caught, I learned about the environment, how certain plants and animals acted. I learned how to survive.

Most of all, I learned how to use my powers. I learned to shoot a bow with both hands, ambidextrously, how to nock, draw, and shoot an arrow using only one hand and my teeth. I learned how to carve my weapon for effective shooting as well as melee attacking. I learned how to meditate and then to concentrate my body's electrical potential into a weapon, growing my lightning powers as well. I even learned how to superheat air into plasma beams, but it wasn't easy, and it was very deadly, so no Dragon-Ball Z style kamehameha attack for me. I learned the weak points of animals and humans alike, how to sing for money on the streets that I was able to use once I got old enough to pretend that my parents had told me to go buy something, or to attract certain animals for a kill.

Most useful was my sonar abilities, helping me prevent ambushes, as well as use sound to keep myself silent or deafen other people. I could go all Black Canary and scream with a concentrated shockwave strong enough to blast people or items back, and even go all Quake and use them to vibrate things in all kinds of fun ways (Destructive ways! Get your mind out of the gutter!) Of course, these were draining tasks, and using them constantly was about as healthy as putting myself under constant stress. I've nearly pushed my limits on multiple occasions, and that survival aspect isn't even counting how I had to learn about  _monsters_ , how they could smell me, how I was a big target in their eyes, and how deadly this part of the world was (as I wasn't in America until Zyanya took me there).

Of course, then I got taken in when I followed a monster into a subway. A loud train had blocked out my abilities - like Daredevil, you know? - and I couldn't track anything with the sound and vibrations of the train obscuring my abilities. I was taken by that government organization that took in demigods as prisoners to study and brainwash into becoming their soldiers. And that was where I'd met Kaze.

The group of monsters paused just on the other side of the boulder, but they still gave no indication that they'd caught our scent. I had my arrow nocked the entire way we'd been walking, and now was no exception, but I kept my muscles relaxed, knowing that I needed to pretend that we weren't even here in the first place. I was nothing but a rock as well, not living, not breathing, not cautious of anything around me. Just there, but not there. I was beginning to remember all of the things from my old days of survival - especially the ones where I had Kaze to protect, only this time it was Percy and Annabeth, and we were much older. Instincts came back to me, like riding a bike, the muscle memory had never left me, I just needed to get them active again, get back in the zone.

Annabeth and Percy were tense, ready to spring into action at any moment. But they were wasting the adrenaline rush of their fight-or-flight responses as they dragged out their readied states. I put my finger to my lips calmly. They needed to contain their energy for when they needed it, not spread it thin and have it wear off by the time the action took place.

"I wonder," Said a third voice, gravelly and ancient like the first. "If, perhaps, you do not know the way, young one."

"Oh, shut your fang hole, Serephone," Said the mall girl. "When's the last time  _you_  escaped to the mortal world? I was there a couple of years ago. I know the way! Besides,  _I_  understand what we're facing up there. You don't have a clue!"

"The Earth Mother did not make you boss!" Shrieked a fourth voice.

More hissing, scuffling, and feral moans - like giant alley cats fighting. I stayed calm, ready to spring into action any moment, but knowing that the girls were too busy with each other to notice us, so long as we didn't draw attention.

At last, the one called Serephone yelled, "Enough!"

The scuffling died down.

"We will follow for now. But if you do  _not_  lead us well, if we find you have  _lied_  about the summons of Gaea-"

"I don't lie!" Snapped the mall girl. "Believe me, I've got good reason to get into this battle. I have some enemies to devour, and you'll feast on the blood of heroes. Just leave one special morsel for me - the one named Percy Jackson."

Annabeth's hand curled into a fist, and she looked ready to jump out there and slash the monsters to dust with her knife - which she didn't have anymore. I put my hand onto hers firmly and gave her a hard glare, shaking my head. " ** _Do_** **not** ** _blow our cover now, or I_** **swear** ** _I will murder_** **you** ** _along with the monsters!_** " Thankfully, Annabeth got the message. I had had to teach Kaze about the art of holding still and being patient, keeping impulsive desires down, and as he was a very jumpy child, it wasn't easy. It required a bit of starvation because he scared animals that we had to hunt away, and so when I eventually killed the animal on my own, Kaze got none. I felt bad on the inside, eating in front of him while he begged me for some, but I kept my feelings inside, and thanks to the lesson, he learned quickly after that. Patience still wasn't his strong suit, but he knew when he needed to take things seriously.

"Believe me," The mall girl continued. "Gaea has called us, and we're going to have  _so_  much fun. Before this war is over, mortals and demigods will tremble at the sound of my name - Kelli!"

Annabeth opened her mouth, possibly to gasp, possibly to yelp in terror because she knew who Kelli was, but I quickly slapped my hand over her mouth, tossing a rock into the river when a couple heads turned our way, and causing bubbles to form in the raging fire river. The ones that had turned our way quickly dismissed the sound and went back to the conversation like nothing happened, and everyone else's attention was focused on Kelli's speech.

Percy had managed to keep calm, his face seeming waxy in the red light of the Phlegethon. I slowly released Annabeth's mouth, and luckily she knew to release her breath slowly and silently instead of gasping for air.

" _Empousai_ ," She mouthed. " _Vampires_."

I nodded. I remembered Kelli now. It had been in one of Annabeth's many stories that she'd told me while I tried to get her mind off the missing Percy. I had gotten her to tell us all the stories that they'd had together, one of which being at Percy's freshman orientation where he and Rachel Dare had been attacked by empousai disguised as cheerleaders - one of them being Kelli. Later, the same empousa had attacked them in Daedalus's workshop, and Annabeth had stabbed her in the back and sent her here, to Tartarus.

The creatures shuffled off, their voices getting fainter. Annabeth crept to the edge of the boulder and risked a glimpse. Sure enough, five women staggered along on mismatched legs - mechanical bronze on the left, shaggy and cloven-hooved on the right. Their hair was made of fire, their skin as white as bone, most of them wearing tattered Ancient Greek dresses, except for the one in the lead, Kelli, who wore a burned and torn blouse with a short pleated skirt - her cheerleader's outfit.

As Annabeth tensed again in anger, gritting her teeth, I put my hand on her shoulder. She held a grudge against empousai, I see. In addition to their nasty claws and fangs, they had a powerful ability to manipulate the Mist. They could change shape and charmspeak, tricking mortals into letting down their guard. Men were especially susceptible - unless they had another sexual preference, but that was a whole 'nother story that I wasn't interested in pursuing. Let's just say it involved finding out how Kaze was homosexual, which led to a very awkward conversation with child who had barely reached double digits. The empousa's favorite tactic was to make a guy fall in love with her, then drink his blood and devour his flesh. Not a great first date.

Kelli had almost killed Percy, and manipulated Annabeth's oldest friend, Luke, urging him to commit darker and darker deeds in the name of Kronos, ultimately leading Luke into an inescapable situation that resulted in his death despite him realizing the error of his ways. Or something.

Percy rose as the empousai got out of range. "They're heading for the Doors of Death," He murmured. "You know what that means?"

I sighed. Sadly, this squad of flesh-eating horror-show women might be the closest thing to good luck we were going to get in Tartarus. Until I figured out the trials of Chaos, we needed to start heading for the Doors. Hopefully, by the time we got there, I'll have gotten the power we need to make our move, but until then…

"We need to follow them," I agreed.


	5. Are They Dreams?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look, a chapter under 5,000 words! (Not including this extra message)
> 
> The beginning of this story is taking time. There's ranting, explaining, lots of extras to set up the plot, and it's all crazy. We're gonna get to the faster parts soon, I promise! I will attempt to avoid tons and tons of paragraphs of explanations in the future, because even I have to admit that this is just getting crazy.
> 
> To those sticking with me, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> :)

First Person: Emily

Leo had spent the night wrestling with a forty-foot-tall Athena. Ever since we'd brought the statue aboard, Leo had been obsessed with figuring out how it worked. He was sure it had primo powers, saying there had to be a secret switch or a pressure plate or something. Audrey pointed out that it was most likely magically-based, not mechanical, but that didn't stop Leo from trying. This thing had been the reason Percy, Annabeth, and even Lu had fallen into Tartarus, and Leo was determined to get something out of it, as though it would somehow make what happened worth it. I could tell that it was just the same distress as everyone else going through us.

Everyone was shaken by what happened, I could feel the mood sweeping across the ship like a heavy fog. There wasn't really anything I could say that would cheer them up, at least, nothing more than I'd already said. I turned their depression into determination, helped keep their eyes on a goal, yet that was the only thing that I sensed I could do. I tried to calm them all down as best I could without interfering too much to the point that I made them heartless zombies, but the middle ground wasn't always the perfect ground. Sometimes it was just the perfect storm.

Leo was supposed to be sleeping, but he just couldn't. He spent hours crawling over the statue, which took up most of the lower deck. Athena's feet stuck into the sick bay, so you had to squeeze past her ivory toes if you wanted some Advil. Her body ran the length of the port corridor, her outstretched hand jutting into the engine room, offering the life-sized figure of Nike that stood in her palm, like, ' _Here, have some Victory!_ ' Athena's serene face took up most of the aft pegasus stables, which were fortunately unoccupied. If I were a magic horse, I probably wouldn't have wanted to live in a stall with an oversized goddess of wisdom staring at me.

The statue was wedged tight in the corridor, so Leo had to climb over the top and wriggle under her limbs, searching for levers and buttons. As usual, he found nothing. He'd done some research on the statue. He knew it was made from a hollow wooden frame covered in ivory and fold, which explained why it was so light for such a large statue. Had it been made of marble (like I had admittedly believed at first) it would've probably caused the ship many more problems. It was in pretty good shape, considering it was more than two thousand years old, had been pillaged from Athens, toted to Rome, and secretly stored in a spider's cavern for most of the past two millennia. Magic must've been what kept it intact, combined with really good craftsmanship.

Leo couldn't help but think about Annabeth when he admired the making of the statue, as he knew she would be all over it. He, like everyone on the ship, had their own part to play in the 'Blame for losing our friends' incident. Still, moping around wasn't going to get Percy, Annabeth, and Lu back. Annabeth and Lu - Zy, maybe, since the goddess had to have been the place where Lucy got the information - had said that the statue was the key to defeating Gaea, it could heal the rift between Greek and Roman demigods.

Leo refused to believe it was just symbolism. Maybe Athena's eyes shot lasers, or the snake behind her shield could split poison, or maybe the smaller figure of Nike came to life and busted out some ninja moves. Leo could think of all kinds of fun things the statue might do if  _he_  designed it, but the more he examined it, the more frustrated he got.

I didn't want to argue with him, but I predicted that Athena's powers weren't physical, just like her real self. She was a goddess of war that represented the smarter way of playing, as opposed to Ares' brute force style. Perhaps she had the ability to create a large peace wave like me only on a much larger scale, helping the Greeks and Romans come to an agreement. Or maybe she had the ability to show the truth to everyone. The Athena Parthenos radiated magic, I could feel it, and so could the others too. But for the moment, it didn't seem to do anything impressive. Perhaps it was because it was still here in the Ancient lands, in Italy, home of the  _Romans_  who'd taken the  _Greek_  statue away. Her power wouldn't be restored until she was in America, or better yet, Camp Half-Blood. That was concerning, as we were a long way from returning home, and the war was brewing quickly.

The ship careened to one side, taking evasive maneuvers. I heard the distinct shouting of Kaze, who had just about had it with monster attacks. He was distraught at losing his sister to the goddess that Kaze had had problems with in the past. He was tired of losing her again and again because of his sister's, perhaps foolish, loyalty to the deity. When he'd heard from Veon that Lucy - or Rei, as he referred to her as - had told him that she intended to keep his promise, Kaze punched down one of the masts in anger, breaking down into sobs on the deck. Leo had complained, but since Kaze couldn't understand him, and Leo understood that everyone was going through their own mental breakdown, it didn't stick.

Now, Kaze had barely slept, he ate about as much as Nico - who barely ate at all and was also influencing Veon to do the same - and he was always angry. He only had Veon to talk to, as his language abilities were the only ones that allowed them communication, but I'd had my own private sessions with everyone, kinda like a counselor, even though I had no idea what I was really doing, and I managed to tell them the right things. Kaze had faith in his sister, but as long as she, as well as Percy and Annabeth, were in Tartarus, none of us would be okay. I knew that, we all knew that. But we were going to be strong.

Jason, Piper, and Frank were all on duty as well, with Hazel and Veon insisting that they take the wheel and guide us through the secret pass that the magic goddess had told us about. Audrey was supposed to be sleeping in her room, but I had no doubt that she had stayed up doing research, trying to figure out ways to help. She was trying to pinpoint any major monsters that may be in our path, as well as find any potential safe spots that could provide us aid. She was going into tourist recommendations for famous locations, but also going through tons of books full of lore of monsters, as well as trying to figure out what the treasure in Bologna could be - not to mention looking up dwarfs. On top of that, she was doing research into the Athena Parthenos, and I worried that she was spreading herself thin.

"It's like a more entertaining version of World History, English, Math, Science, and Archeology," She assured me.

"You should get out there on duty," I had pressed. "The exercise might be good for you."

"Are we over water?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then I'm sure the others can handle it. Besides, they need information just as much as they need fighters to protect the ship. You can join me, if you want. We need to be prepared for anything, and in the Ancient lands, anything could come at us. I wouldn't be surprised if the original Perseus popped up trying to kill us. I've looked into every myth I can, about heroes and monsters alike, not to mention I think I found something about the Athena Parthenos. I'm looking for other sources to confirm it, but I might've found out how to activate its powers. Sadly, I don't think Leo's capable of doing it. And those dwarfs? Or… _dwarves_ , maybe? Whatever. I found out that they're supposedly really good thieves. Might be a good idea to prepare for that, but if they happen to have stolen something useful, it's highly likely they're going to have something important. And that route that Hecate mapped out? It's actually quite interesting. I mean, Hannibal was a pretty famous guy, and though the guy failed during his invasion, gotta give Hecate points for having her secret route here."

She went on about things, until I politely dismissed myself. I had a feeling that she needed to get her discoveries out of her, and she had relaxed slightly, having released her pent-up excitement as well as distress that had been building up. I had left for Leo next, who I'd found doing what he was always doing these days: scouring the Athena Parthenos as though staring at certain parts enough times would suddenly change it.

When he'd heard about Hecate, he was skeptical about a creepy goddess suddenly deciding to be so helpful. Then again, being a child of Hephaestus, he didn't trust magic in general. That's why he was having so much trouble with the Athena Parthenos. It had no moving parts. Whatever it did, even Leo had to admit eventually that it operated on pure sorcery, and Leo didn't appreciate that. He wanted it to make sense, like a machine.

"Leo, you need sleep," I urged. "Sleep deprivation won't help your mind work. Actually, it's even  _more_ detrimental to your health."

I'll admit that I had to use a bit of charmspeak, or at least,  _influential insistence_ , to get Leo to finally cave, and I felt bad about forcing his hand, but Leo was going to collapse eventually, and he needed rest. He curled up with a blanket in the engine room and listened to the soothing hum of the generators. Buford the mechanical table sat in the corner on sleep mode, making little steamy snores: ' _Shh, pfft, shh, pfft._ '

I knew that Leo liked his quarters, but he felt safest in the heart of the ship - in a room filled with mechanisms he knew how to control. Besides, he figured that maybe if he spent more time close to the Athena Parthenos, he would eventually soak in its secrets.

"It's your or me, Big Lady," He murmured as he pulled the blanket up to his chin. "You're gonna cooperate eventually."

I chuckled and left Leo to sleep. Now that he was finally out, I knew that I needed my own rest. I headed to my room, and changed into pajamas before climbing into bed.

I'm not sure when I fell asleep, but I knew that I was dreaming. I walked through Camp Half-Blood, unsure of what was happening around me. The people seemed to be completely at ease, which I liked. I vaguely remembered a war in the back of my head, but I figured that this had to be after or before the war had come to pass.

I walked over to the training arena and saw Lu and Ve arguing about something - not a heavy argument, but more of an 'I'm arguing for the sake of conversation' argument. Lu waved her hands around, talking with her hands to make her point, and Ve seemed to be happy at seeing her seemingly getting more and more frustrated, but again, in a friendly way, amused by her enthusiasm to make her point. Eventually, he rolled his eyes and just kissed her, to which she responded by freezing up. When he pulled back and she got over her shock, she whacked him on the arm and turned, crossing her own in a fake huff.

I smiled. Aw, weren't they just in love?

A distance away, Percy and Audrey were giving each other a stare down with an orb of water floating in between them. After a moment, Audrey blinked, seemingly caught by surprise, and the orb of water surged forward, smacking her in the face and popping like a water balloon. Percy whooped in victory at their contest, and Audrey responded by taking the water and smashing it into Percy's face while he was distracted.

"Oh, it is  _on_ , sister!"

I laughed and left them to their business. As I went to the hearth, still burning with its eternal flame, I saw Kaze walking with some other boy that I recognized as a kid from the Ares cabin. Kaze was gesturing wildly, a shared trait between him and his sister, I realized, as he spoke. As they passed close enough, I realized that Kaze was speaking English. Broken and inexperienced English, but really good English for a kid who didn't know any at all.

"And I kill it!" He shouted.

The Ares boy laughed. "Yeah! Up top!"

The two high-fived, and Kaze went into a story about how he fought something. It was hard to follow the point he was trying to get across with his limited vocabulary, but the Ares kid didn't seem to mind, encouraging Kaze to continue or jumping in with comments to show he was following along. Then, the demigod suggested something, and Kaze paused to process what he'd said before nodding and smiling. The Ares boy took Kaze's hand and dragged him forward, and Kaze seemed taken by surprise, nearly tripping in his attempt to keep up. Considering Kaze could easily outrun that kid and then some, I took it to mean he was in love too.

Aw, the adorableness never ended!

I continued to wander around the camp, seeing Jason and Piper reading books together, which involved a lot of leaning over to point out something. They seemed to be studying for a test or something. Maybe they were going to college. Annabeth went over to ask Jason about something, and I realized she had her serious thinking face on. She must've been doing some project, maybe continuing her job of redesigning Olympus. She showed some pictures of gods and goddesses that I didn't recognize, and they began discussing them. Perhaps they were planning to make some statues for the minor deities and show them some love in Olympus too.

I walked over to the strawberry fields and wandered around, enjoying the peace and quiet as I looked out to the sea. It was a nice day.

Then, suddenly, the scene flashed. The warm summer day faded, the entire camp shimmered, and suddenly there was nothing left but ruins. The cabins were charred husks, burned fields smoldered in the moonlight, the dining pavilion had collapsed into a pile of white rubble, and the Big House was on fire, its windows glowing like demon eyes. A white rectangle formed, like a portal in a digital game or something, and suddenly Leo sprinted through, running at top speed as though something was chasing him.

"Leo?!" I called.

He wove around the bodies of Greek and Roman demigods, wanting to check if they were alive and help them, but something was coming after him. He was running out of time. A shadowy figure was coming after him. I knew that he didn't understand how he knew these things, and I knew that Gaea's giant was chasing him. ' _The void that consumes all magic, the cold that consumes all fire, the silence that consumes all speech._ ' I'm not sure what was going on, but I knew that this was serious.

"Leo!"

I ran after him, and I realized he was jogging towards the only living people we saw - a group of Romans standing at the volleyball pit. Two centurions leaned casually on their javelins, chatting with a tall skinny blond guy in a purple toga. I realized it was Octavian, the augur from Camp Jupiter, who was always screaming for war. Leo stumbled as Octavian turned to face him, but he seemed to be in a trance, his features slack, his eyes closed.

When he spoke, it was in Gaea's voice: " _This cannot be prevented. The Romans move east from New York. They advance on your camp, and nothing can slow them down. Not even the broken girl's Curses._ "

Leo looked ready to punch Octavian in the face, but he continued running. As I chased after Leo, I did the deed for him and knocked the augur in the side of the head without breaking stride. I wasn't one for punching people, but in dreams it wasn't easy, or even possible, to feel emotions, since the people in dreams weren't actually there. I could have times where I  _think_  I know what someone's feeling, but it's just my assumptions being reality since it's  _my_  dream and I control most of it. Besides, punching him didn't hurt my fist as much as I thought it did, and it was just as satisfying.

We climbed Half-Blood Hill, and Leo faltered at the top, allowing me to catch up with him. At the summit, lightning had splintered the giant pine tree. The back of the hill was shorn away, and beyond it, the entire world was gone. There was nothing but clouds far below - a rolling silver carpet under the dark sky.

"Well?" A sharp voice demanded.

We both flinched, and turned to see that at the shattered pine tree, a woman knelt at a cave entrance that had cracked open between the tree's roots. The woman wasn't Gaea; she looked more like a living Athena Parthenos, with the same golden robes and bare ivory arms. When she rose, Leo nearly stumbled off the edge of the world if I hadn't grabbed him and steadied him. Her face was regally beautiful, with high cheekbones, large dark eyes, and braided licorice-colored hair piled in a fancy Greek hairdo, set with a spiral of emeralds and diamonds so that it reminded me of a Christmas tree. Her expression radiated pure hatred.

Her lip curled and her nose wrinkled. "The tinkerer god's child," She sneered. "And what's this? The pacifist's daughter. Hmm, unexpected, yet it makes little difference. You are no threat, but I suppose my vengeance must start somewhere. Make your choice."

The world was as fuzzy as any dream, but Leo beside me seemed to be real enough, as I could sense his panic. Between this hate queen and the giant chasing him, he had no idea what to do.

"He'll be here soon," The woman warned. "My dark friend will not give you the luxury of a choice. It's the cliff or the cave, children!"

I suddenly understood what she meant. We were cornered. We could jump off the cliff, but that was suicide for Leo, and even if there was land under those clouds, there was no telling what was down there. It was possible we'd keep falling forever, and even if I survived, there could be any number of horrors down there to hunt me down until something eventually found a way to kill me. But the cave…the dark opening between the tree roots smelled of rot and death. I heard bodies shuffling inside, voices whispering in the shadows. The cave was the home of the dead, and if we went down there, we would never come back.

"Yes," The woman said.

Around her neck hung a strange bronze-and-emerald pendant, like a circular labyrinth. Her eyes were so angry, I think I realized why ' _mad_ ' was a word for ' _crazy._ ' This lady had been driven nuts by hatred. Hatred of  _what?_  That depended on who she was.

"The House of Hades awaits. You will be the first puny rodent to die in my maze, Leo Valdez, and you have only one chance to escape. Take it. As for you, Emily Hezesto, your path shall be put before you whether you like it or not. You could take the chance of the cliff, but you know that it is no guarantee of escape."

She gestured towards the cliff, as though waving for us to give the new game a test drive.

"You're bonkers," Leo managed.

That was the wrong thing to say.

She seized his wrist. "Perhaps I should kill you now, before my dark friend arrives?"

Steps shook the hillside. The giant was coming, wrapped in shadows, huge and heavy and bent on murder.

"Have you ever heard of dying in a dream, boy?" The woman asked. "It is possible, at the hands of a sorceress!"

Leo's arm started to smoke, the woman's touch acid. He struggled to free himself, but her grip was like steel.

"Hey!" I shouted.

I punched the sorceress woman in the face, and the world exploded, her grip on Leo releasing as he disappeared and she was thrown off. The world itself seemed to be blown away by a shockwave, and I was blown back as well, only to find myself hitting a wall, the scene around me completely different.

"Em, you okay?" Audrey asked.

I realized that I was in a hallway. It wasn't very familiar to me, but at the same time, I knew that I should be here. I couldn't remember why I was there, but I knew that I didn't feel anything was off. I couldn't understand what was wrong, though something nagged at the back of my mind. I realized that this had to have been some kind of dream, as my cloudy mind and surroundings were things that I had become conscious of during dreams before. That, and being able to breathe underwater. At this realization, I figured that I should just go with the flow like I always did, as dreams tended to take me wherever they wanted to. I think I had been distressed about something before, but I couldn't really remember what, and it was just a dream, right? It couldn't have been that important.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Let's go."

We walked down the halls, and though I had never seen this place before, I knew exactly where I was going by instinct. Or at least, I  _think_  I knew that I was going the right way. Either way, I just went with it. Dreams were weird like that. We both stopped at a door, and Audrey did the honors of knocking.

"Lu? You and Ve up yet, or do we have to drag you out of bed kicking and screaming?"

"More like drag them out of bed while they try to remain asleep and end up making us drag dead weight," I corrected.

When no response came, Audrey sighed and dug the spare key that she had in her jacket pocket out and opened the door. We walked in and locked the door again behind us, before removing our light jackets and putting them on the coat hanger (each of us had designated hooks for our jackets that Lu had drilled into our heads. Every time we came over, she made sure to point it out and bug us all for ages before she finally trusted that we understood what to do).

"Lucy~!" Audrey called through the apartment. "Veon~!"

We turned the corner into the main room where we found Lu lying on the floor, a picture that she'd removed from the frame lying next to her. It was the picture that her family had taken back at Camp Half-Blood, with her dad, Kaze and Tsuchi, and the photo-bombing god. What was his name again? Ether-Uriel? It was apparently a well-known name in the Shadowhunter fandom that her, Audrey, and Veon all knew, but I just heard something about it being the name of an angel or something. Lucy had gone on one of her famous rants about it before, which was entertaining, but I couldn't keep up with her. She  _did_  try to drill it into my head though, bringing it up whenever she could because when she found herself in a position where she learned something new and exciting, she obsessed over it for weeks.

Audrey kneeled down and shook her gently. "Lu? Lucy, wake up."

She groaned and slapped Audrey away. "What?"

"Why are you sleeping on the floor?" Audrey sighed.

"I'll have you know the floor is a very comfortable place," She quickly said, sitting up.

"Yeah, but you look like someone broke in and attacked you. Then again, I have a feeling that if someone broke in and attacked you, you'd have burnt them to a crisp, but metaphorically speaking. What are you doing there?"

She held her finger up. "I…"

She hesitated. Either she didn't remember, or she was trying to come up with the excuse.

"I'm not sure. Must've passed out. What are you doing here?"

"We came to remind you guys that your gig is in an hour, and I just  _knew_  that you - or at least Ve - would be sleeping 'till three and would risk missing it."

"Gig?" She asked.

Audrey rolled her eyes. "What? Don't tell me  _you_  forgot. You  _never_  forget stuff like this. You practically set five alarms, get everything ready ten days in advance, and quattuorvigintuple check everything per day in between."

"First off, I prefer to say I tredecuple check. But I'm…just having an off day. I'll wake Veon."

She went into the bedroom and there was a distinct sound of Veon grumbling and then the thud of Lucy pushing him off the bed. After a few minutes, Veon came out, looking thoroughly unhappy at being woken up.

"What's up?" He asked, rubbing his eye and yawning.

"Uh, very important gig at the coffee shop?" Audrey relayed. "Come on, you two! You two have been all over this thing for ages! What is up with you guys today?"

"Gig?" Veon muttered, before snapping to attention. "Gig! Ah! Give me five minutes!"

He ran back into the bedroom and into the closet to change.

"Gig at the coffee shop?" Lu muttered. "What kind of gig?"

"The gig of the music variety?" Audrey suggested. "You know, with instruments and singing? You guys have been doing this for ages. Come on. I'll get the guitar and mics, and Emily can get the keyboard."

Audrey walked over to the kitchen area where the instruments were stored and ready to go, grabbing a guitar case (presumably with a guitar inside) and a box with the microphones inside. I went over and picked up the keyboard, and we headed to the door, Audrey setting the mics down for a moment to open it.

"We'll put them in the car," Audrey called. "Be ready by the time we get back, please."

We headed down the stairs and put the instruments in the trunk of Audrey's car before heading back up to the apartment.

Lu was staring out the window, now dressed in her usual jeans, jacket, T-shirt, and boots, but she seemed nervous. At least, she looked that way. I couldn't tell since this was a dream. I'd gotten so used to being able to feel the emotions of everyone I came into contact with, that everything felt a bit scary in dreams. I didn't have control, and could do very little but watch as things happened around me.

"Come on," Audrey said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She turned her head and nodded. "Right."

Veon rushed out of the bedroom, snatching his jacket as he sprinted for the door. "I'm ready! Let's move it, people!"

He rushed out, and I laughed before waving the others to follow.

Suddenly, the scene shifted, and we were already there at what I assumed was a coffee shop, and Lu and Ve were setting up the equipment, hooking the instruments and mics up to the speakers. Lu seemed deep in thought, before she snapped to attention and then seemingly looked around in confusion, as though she'd forgotten what she was doing.

Maybe she had had the same flash from the apartment to here that I had. But something seemed off about that. I couldn't put my finger on it. Audrey and I sat at a small table and chatted while we waited for them to start, but I felt in the back of my mind that we were expecting someone else, or some other people. When I heard the door open, the small jingle of the bell ringing out, it drew my attention more than any of the other people who'd entered, and I knew that the person or people that I was expecting were here.

I turned to look over and saw Kaze walking in, with Tsuchi by his side. Kandai came in after her, and then next came in the god named after that angel. Ithuriel! That was it! The white-haired man was talking with Kandai, before he looked up and saw Lu on the stage and froze, seemingly surprised about seeing her. He looked entranced, as though he was seeing the love of his life, or maybe some beautiful breathtaking scenery.

I was confused by the reaction, but then he looked over at me with confusion, and the world blew up again, blasting me back into my bed, where I woke up with a jolt.

"Hey," Jason called. "We're past the mountains and closing in on Bologna. Meeting in the mess hall. Veon and Nico have some news."

I nodded and got ready.

Were those dreams? I'd have to ask Leo if he had the same dream as me about the sorceress, but the other one about that…dreamworld with us all just living peaceful lives…what was that? I seemed to have information about everything in there, even though now I had no idea what was going on. How were Tsuchi and Kandai there? They were reanimations working for Gaia right now. And that angel guy who was actually a god who seemed to have woken me up, was more aware or something.

I shook my head. I'd figure it out later. Right now, we needed to get to work, and the crew needed me to keep my head on straight. I headed out (hearing Jason and Leo have a conversation involving Leo cuddling with Nike for some reason) and decided I would deal with it later.


	6. Nice Morning Talks (Not)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm here, Fan Fiction! I have returned! With a chapter under 4,000 words! Whaaaaat?!
> 
> So yeah, school has be stressed as F and I can't concentrate on my stories very well when that's happening. So sorry 'bout that.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> :)
> 
> A commenter asked so I might as well mention:  
> Audrey's surname, Mavepo, comes from the Greek word for water - Vepo (with a Ma there for reasons), Emily's last name, Hezesto, comes from the Greek word for warm - Zesto (with the He coming from Hestia; and Hezesto sounds like the male version of Hestia). Lucy's last name, Chikara, comes from the Japanese word for Power - which is still Chikara. Zytaveon's last name comes from the Greek word Zoi, and Kana, the system of syllabic writing used for Japanese.
> 
> Clearly, there is a pattern, but my friend who inspired me to get into the HoO series (at least write this fic for it, since I was into this fandom long before we'd gotten here) came up with Audrey and Emily's last names, while I did Lucy and Veon's.

First Person: Audrey

Leo had designed the mess hall's walls to show real-time scenes from Camp Half-Blood. At first, it seemed like a pretty awesome idea, but now I wasn't so sure. The scenes from back home - the campfire sing-alongs, dinners at the pavilion, volleyball games outside the Big House - just seemed to make everyone sad. The farther we got from Long Island, the worse it got. The time zones kept changing, making us  _feel_  the distance every time he looked at the walls. Here in Italy the sun had just come up, but back at Camp Half-Blood it was the middle of the night. Torches sputtered at the cabin doorways, moonlight glittered on the waves of Long Island Sound, and the beach was covered in footprints, as if a big crowd had just left.

I realized that yesterday - last night, whatever - had been the Fourth of July, and we'd missed Camp Half-Blood's annual party at the beach with the awesome fireworks that Leo's siblings had prepared at Cabin Nine. I hoped that they'd had a good celebration. With war on the horizon, I knew they needed something to keep their spirits up too.

I sat down at the table, waiting for the others to come into the room one by one. As Emily came in, things seemed to get a little lighter. This morning, Kaze came in and finally started eating, but he seemed to be struggling, as though the food tasted disgusting. Veon sat beside him, Nico across from him, and Emily beside him. Leo was next to Emily, I was across from Leo, with Hazel and Frank across from each other at the end of the table. The only absent demigod was Piper, who was taking her turn at the helm with Coach Hedge. We decided it was probably a good idea to have a chaperone for our chaperone. Now that we were in the Ancient Lands, we had to be constantly on guard, and no one really wanted to let Coach Hedge fly solo. The satyr was a little trigger-happy, and the helm had plenty of bright, dangerous buttons that could cause the picturesque Italian villages below us to go BOOM!

Jason was sitting at the head of the table - Veon and Nico at either side - kind of by default. Since we'd lost Lu/Order (still wrapping my head around that), we'd lost a lot of confidence and leadership. Jason had done his best to act as the group's leader, with Veon as the new leader of our team. Having been praetor back at Camp Jupiter, Jason was probably used to being in charge, but I could tell he was stressed. His eyes were more sunken than usual; his blond hair was uncharacteristically messy, like he'd forgotten to comb it. Veon was trying to do his role as best he could, but considering that he was trying to make the decisions that a  _goddess_  was supposed to, he was understandably doubting his ability to live up to her title. She had known what to do, and Veon was left with no real path. He looked tired, but it seemed that he looked a lot better than he had been before. I couldn't place my finger on it, but I knew he was looking different, in a good way.

Hazel was bleary-eyed too, but of course, she'd been up all night guiding the ship through the mountains with Veon. It seemed as though Ve had submitted to his sleeping needs about three-quarters of the way through, but Hazel had powered through the entire time. Her curly, cinnamon-colored hair was tied back in a bandana, which gave her a commando look that looked pretty cool. Frank was dressed in black workout pants and a Roman tourist T-shirt that said  _CIAO!_  (Pronounced 'chow'). Frank's old centurion badge was pinned to his shirt, despite the fact that the demigods of the Argo II were now Public Enemies Numbers 1 through 11 (12 if you included Coach Hedge; 13 if you included Kaze). His grim expression just reinforced his unfortunate resemblance to a sumo wrestler.

Then there was Nico, sitting back in his leather aviator jacket, his black T-shirt and jeans, his silver skull ring on his finger, and the Stygian sword at his side. His tufts of black hair stuck up in curls like baby bat wings, his eyes sad and kind of empty, as if he'd stared into the depths of Tartarus - which he had.

"So," Jason began. "Now that we're all here, I hope we're all caught up on the plan. Hecate has helped up with the passage across the Apennines. Next stop is Bologna, and then to Venice. From there, we sail the Adriatic to Epirus. Bologna was where we were supposed to find the dwarfs, right? Audrey found out that they were thieves, so we should make precautions for that. But first, Nico and Veon said that they have some new information about the House of Hades. Guys?"

Nico sat forward. "We communed with the dead last night."

Funny how he just tosses that line out there, like he was saying he got a text from a buddy.

"We were able to learn more about what we'll face."

"In ancient times, the House of Hades was a major site for Greek pilgrims," Veon continued. "They would come to speak with the dead and honor their ancestors."

Leo frowned. "Sounds like Día de Los Muertos. My Aunt Rosa took that stuff seriously."

I remembered the stuff about Día de Los Muertos that we'd learned about in Spanish class, making offerings of food and items like salt and soap that were all symbolic of something.

Frank grunted. "Chinese have that too - ancestor worship, sweeping the graves in the springtime." He glanced at Leo. "Your Aunt Rosa would've gotten along with my grandmother."

Leo seemed to get a look that implied he was imagining something exaggerated, like an image of his Aunt Rosa and Frank's grandmother in wrestlers' outfits, whaling on each other with spiked clubs ( **A.N.: That was not me that came up with that. The book actually said that** ).

"Yeah," Leo said. "I'm sure they would've been best buds."

Nico cleared his throat. "A lot of cultures have seasonal traditions to honor the dead, but the house of Hades was open year-round. Pilgrims could actually  _speak_  to the ghosts. In Greek, the place was called the Necromanteion, the Oracle of Death. You'd work your way through different levels of tunnels, leaving offerings and drinking special potions-"

"Special potions," Leo muttered. "Yum."

Jason flashed him a look like, ' _Dude, enough_.' "Go on."

"The pilgrims believed that each level of the temple brought you closer to the Underworld, until the dead would appear before you," Veon continued. "Sort of like the Farplane, but with trials to get you there and the ghosts actually talk. Anyway, if they were pleased with your offerings, they would answer your questions, maybe even tell you the future."

Frank tapped his mug of hot chocolate. "And if the spirits  _weren't_  pleased?"

"Some pilgrims found nothing," Nico said. "Some went insane, or died after leaving the temple. Others lost their way in the tunnels and were never seen again."

"The point is," Jason said quickly. "They found some information that might help us."

"Yeah," Veon said, though with little enthusiasm. "The ghost we spoke to last night…he was a former priest of Hecate. He confirmed what the goddess told me and Hazel yesterday at the crossroads. In the first war with the giants, Hecate fought for the gods. She slew one of the giants - one who'd been designed as the  _anti_ -Hecate. A guy named Clytius."

"Dark dude," Leo guessed. "Wrapped in shadows."

Hazel turned towards him, her gold eyes narrowing. "Leo, how did you know that?"

"Kinda had a dream."

No one looked surprised. Most demigods had vivid nightmares about what was going on in the world, especially in an impending end of the world situation like this. Leo explained his dream of the ruined Camp Half-Blood, notably trying to avoid looking at the image of the camp on the walls. He told us about the dark giant and the strange woman on Half-Blood Hill, offering him a multiple-choice death.

"So you mean that  _was_  your dream too?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. You mean you were there too? I mean,  _really_  there. Like, that wasn't just my imagination looking for company?"

"I guess that shouldn't be too surprising," I said. "Interacting with others in dreams isn't impossible."

"There was also something else that I saw after I saved Leo," Emily said.

She explained some imaginary world, maybe the future, where we were living happily in New Rome, no impending end of the world anymore, but also with Tsuchi and Kandai. Kaze looked up at Tsuchi's name, and Veon explained the situation to him.

He said something in response, and Veon translated. "'Does that mean we can save her?'"

"I don't know," Emily said. "It could've been just a dream, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was some kind of prediction for the future."

"What about that other guy that woke you up?" Frank asked.

"It was a white-haired guy that I think was a god, but he was named after one of the angels from the Shadowhunters thing. It started with an 'I'?"

"Ithuriel?" Veon and I asked.

"Yeah, that was it."

"Well there isn't a god named Ithuriel," Veon said. "At least to my knowledge, let alone a Greek or Roman one."

"He seemed…self-aware. When he walked into the coffee shop, it was almost as though he realized that I wasn't just another dream, but actually a real person. But the funny thing was, he also looked to Lu in the same way, although, with a little more shock."

"Does that mean you might have a way of contacting Lu in her dreams?" I realized. "If you could do that, we could keep in touch with the others."

"I don't know. It could've just been a fluke. I didn't do anything consciously."

"Still, that might be immense help," Veon said. "We could keep tabs on their conditions and their plan, and maybe we can do that whole Kingdom Keepers thing and have you bring supplies to them when you go to sleep."

"Don't start piling stuff into Emily's room and hope that it all comes with her, though," I said. "We should do a test first. Give Emily something small to keep in her pocket at all times, and hopefully she'll try to pass it on if she's able to get back to the dream place. If it's no longer there when she wakes up, we'll try again each night to give them what we can, but we can't exactly load her up while she goes to sleep. Besides, we don't even know if that'll work in the first place."

"Well, way to try and pop  _that_  bubble."

Jason pushed away his plate of pancakes. "Back to the subject at hand. We'll deal with Emily's…dreamwalking, I guess, later. So the giant is Clytius. I suppose he'll be waiting for us, guarding the Doors of Death."

"That's what Hecate said," Veon confirmed.

Frank rolled up one of the pancakes and started munching - not a guy to let impending death stand in the way of a healthy breakfast. If only that attitude spread to more of us. "And the woman in their dream?"

"She's our problem," Hazel said, passing a diamond between her fingers in a sleight of hand. "Hecate mentioned a formidable enemy in the House of Hades - a witch who couldn't be defeated except by me and Veon, using magic."

"Do you know magic?" Leo asked.

"Not yet. But Veon does."

"A little," He admitted. "The Mist is a simple concept. You have to enforce your will upon it and other people in a convincing way, find a middle-ground that will convince your target what their seeing is true. Like a perception filter from Doctor Who. If you see a large animal, it makes more sense to your brain that it's an elephant or a rhino rather than something like a Cyclops, at least for mortals. You need to have a creative mind, be able to predict what someone expects to see and make them see it. Although I admit that I'm not a master at the skill, I'm just about as good as any other Mist-bending demigod. Beating a witch who seems to be pretty formidable…I  _am_  worried about her resistance and/or control over the Mist overpowering mine."

"Any idea who she is?" Leo asked.

Hazel shook her head. "Only that…"

She glanced at Nico, and the two of them had a silent argument that Veon seemed to join in on through Nico and his soul bond. It didn't take a genius to realize that they knew something about the House of Hades, and they weren't sharing all the details. I worried about why they wouldn't be telling us. Perhaps it was for troop morale, or perhaps it was because they didn't have all the details themselves.

"Only that she won't be easy to defeat," Hazel finished.

"But there  _is_  some good news," I said. "I read up on how Hecate defeated Clytius in the first war. She used her torches to set his hair on fire. He burned to death. In other words, fire is his weakness."

Everybody looked to Leo.

"Oh," He said. "Okay."

Jason nodded encouragingly, like this was great news - like he expected Leo to walk up to a towering mass of darkness, shoot a few fireballs, and solve all our problems. If Clytius consumed all magic, I worried what the definition of 'magic' was. Did all demigod powers count as magic? If so, Leo's fire wouldn't be much use on its own. Heck, in some cultures, life itself was considered to be from magic. If we got close to that guy, would his aura start sucking the life out of us?

"I have a feeling that Clytius isn't going to make it easy," Veon said. "I mean, it took a  _Titan's_  torches to set the guy on fire, and no offense, Leo, but you're not a Titan. Perhaps I could use the Mist to expand Leo's fire. He could be the ultimate fire-bender if I played my cards right."

I mentally pointed out that the giant was still the anti-Hecate, the magic goddess that made the very Mist he was talking about. Still, there was a  _chance_  it could work, if we made sure to keep our distance and hope that once we lit Leo's ultimate match that we could keep it lit with enough power to set the giant on fire.

"It's a good lead," Jason insisted. "At least we know how to kill the giant. And this sorceress…well, if Hecate believes you two can defeat her, then so do I."

Hazel dropped her eyes. "Now we just have to reach the House of Hades, battle our way through Gaea's forces-"

"Plus a bunch of ghosts," Nico added grimly. "The spirits in that temple may not be friendly."

"-and find the Doors of Death," Hazel continued. Assuming we can somehow arrive at the same time as Percy, Annabeth, and Lu and rescue them."

Frank swallowed a bite of pancake. "We can do it. We  _have_  to."

I admired the big guy's optimism. He seemed to be the one in the best mood on the ship - holding it together the best, at least.

"So, with this detour," Leo said. "I'm estimating four or five days to arrive at Epirus, assuming no delays for, you know, monster attacks and stuff."

Jason smiled sourly. "Yeah. Those never happen."

Leo looked to Hazel and Veon. "Hecate told you that Gaea was planning her big Wake Up party on August first, right? The Feast of Whatever?"

"Spes," Veon corrected. "The goddess of hope."

Jason turned his fork. "Theoretically, that leaves us enough time. It's only July fifth. We should be able to close the Doors of Death, then find the giants' HQ and stop them from waking Gaea before August first."

"Theoretically," Hazel agreed. "But I'd still like to know how we make our way through the House of Hades without going insane or dying."

"Same way we survive everything," I said. "Charge in head first and BS our way through."

Frank set down his pancake roll like it suddenly didn't taste so good. "It's July fifth. Oh, jeez, I hadn't even thought of that…"

"Hey, man, it's cool," Leo said. "You're Canadian, right? I didn't expect you to get me an Independence Day present or anything…unless you wanted to."

"It's not that. My grandmother…she always told me that seven was an unlucky number. It was a  _ghost_ number. She didn't like it when I told her there would be seven demigods on our quest. And July is the seventh month."

"Well, that explains why I've had such rotten luck throughout my life," Veon said. "Who knew it was because I was born in July?"

"Yeah, but…" Leo began, tapping his fingers nervously on the table.

I didn't know Morse code by heart, but I knew a few simple combinations of letters. He was doing a one letter word first, possibly "A" or "I" just from basic logic, and since "A" was the first letter of the alphabet, I knew that it was a dot and a dash. I didn't know what "I" was, but considering that the two beats he was doing for the first letter were different in length, I could only assume that was it. Then the next word was a four-letter word with the second letter being "O" and the last one being "E," as I knew "O" from the classic SOS Morse thing that practically everyone knew since it was so easy, and "E" was literally just one dot, so that wasn't hard to remember either. The third word was three letters with an "O" being the second as well. The first thing that came to mind was the phrase "I love you," and I remembered that Emily had mentioned Leo learning Morse code from his mother and tapped that phrase in particular when he was nervous or concentrating. I felt accomplished for figuring it out all on my own.

"But that's just a coincidence, right?" Leo continued.

Frank's expression wasn't reassuring. "Back in China, in the old days, people called the seventh month the  _ghost month_. That's when the spirit world and the human world were closest. The living and the dead could go back and forth. Tell me it's a coincidence we're searching for the Doors of Death during the ghost month."

"I'd say that it was practically  _meant_  to be that way," Veon said. "Whoever decided when the Feast of Spes was, and Gaea's plan to make a grand entrance on that day made things this way. Besides, it's not like Chinese and Greek/Roman mythology people got together back in the day and decided on the best way to give us demigods rotten luck while trying to save the world. And if Supernatural has taught me anything, it's that not only one religion is ever in play across the world. Every other belief system out there is probably at play, just like the Greco-Roman demigods exist with us. Honestly, it's surprising that the world is even still standing at this point."

I wanted to believe that Chinese belief couldn't have anything to do with the Romans and the Greeks, that the seventh month was just a coincidence (fortune cookies have told me that 7 has been my lucky number on numerous occasions), but Frank's existence itself was proof that the cultures were tied together. The Zhang family went all the way back to Ancient Greece. They'd found their way through Rome, and China, and finally to Canada. Not to mention Nemesis had apparently been opposed to fortune cookies when she'd met Lu, Em, Hazel, and Leo.

That reminded me that Nemesis had apparently said something about Leo being the seventh wheel, the odd man out on the quest, back at the Great Salt Lake. She couldn't have meant seventh as in  _ghost_ , right?

Jason pressed his hands against the arms of his chain. "Let's focus on the things we can deal with. We're getting close to Bologna. Maybe we'll get more answers once we find these dwarfs that Hecate-"

The ship lurched as if it had hit an iceberg. Breakfast plates slid across the table, Nico fell backwards out of his chair and banged his head against the sideboard, collapsing on the floor with a dozen magic goblets and platters crashing down on top of him.

"Nico!" Hazel shouted, running to help him.

"What-?"

Frank tried to stand, but the ship pitched in the other direction. I held onto the table to try and keep my balance, but Frank stumbled into the table an went face-first into Leo's plate of scrambled eggs. The universe must have it out for Frank, seriously.

"Look!" Jason shouted, pointing to the walls.

The images of Camp Half-Blood were flickering and changing.

"Not possible," Leo murmured.

It shouldn't have been possible for those enchantments could show anything other than scenes from camp, but suddenly a huge, distorted face filled the entire port-side wall: crooked yellow teeth, a scraggly red beard, a warty nose, and two mismatched eyes - one much larger and higher than the other. The face seemed to be trying to eat its way into the room.

The other walls flickered, showing scenes from above deck. Piper stood at the helm, but something was wrong. From the shoulders down she was wrapped in duct tape, her mouth gagged and her legs bound to the control console. At the mainmast, Coach Hedge was similarly bound and gagged, while a bizarre-looking creature - a sort of gnome/chimpanzee combo with poor fashion sense - danced around him, doing the coach's hair in tiny pigtails with pink rubber bands.

On the port-side wall, the huge ugly face receded so that we could see the entire creature - another gnome chimp, in even crazier clothes. This one began leaping around the deck, stuffing things in a burlap bag - Piper's dagger, Leo's Wii controls, and then he pried the Archimedes sphere out of the command console.

"No!" Leo yelled.

"Ugh," Nico groaned from the floor.

"Piper!" Jason cried.

"Monkey!" Frank yelled.

"Not monkeys," I realized. "Those are dwarfs!"

"Stealing my stuff!" Leo yelled, and he ran for the stairs.

Veon shouted something to Kaze, which I assumed was along the lines of " _Kaze, get them! The only person allowed to steal from this ship is you!_ " or possibly " _Go try and out-steal them!_ "

He bolted up the stairs past the others, while Emily and Veon went to Nico. I went to the bottom of the stairwell, but I couldn't help but pause and wait for the others to see if Nico was okay.

Emily put her hand on his forehead. "No pain that's too bad. He should recover."

"Come on!" I called. "We need to help!"

"Go!" Hazel shouted. "I'll take care of Nico!"

Veon and Emily nodded, before joining me at the stairs as we hurried up to face the dwarfs.


	7. Tsuchi's Offer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I accidentally posted the next chapter before this one. They were both prepared, and I wanted a double-update, but this happened, so yeah, sorry 'bout that to anyone who's reading these things as they come out.
> 
> (Edit: I have no idea what happened but chapter 5 felt it necessary to duplicate itself three times and this chapter posted wrong. Go figure that when I screw up posting on Fanfic, I also screw up posting on Ao3)
> 
> All the info I had on the second chapter was meant to be in this one, but I was too lazy to transfer it over. I'm dead tired from school, okay? I know I've said it a lot, but it's the truth.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> :)

First Person: Kaze

" _Go!_ " Hazel shouted. " _I…Nico!_ "

That was all I heard before I was bolting up the stairs past Leo. I'd heard that dwarfs (maybe dwarves) were supposed to be like me, fast and great stealers, and that meant I was probably the only one who could stand up to them. I needed a distraction. I was forced to be stuck in my own head for far too long on this trip, as I couldn't understand anyone else. I had tried to occupy my time with guessing what people were saying, and whenever Veon translated something, I tried to pick up patterns. I understood everyone's name, and small words here and there that I could get from context.

I wanted to trust that my sister would come back. I wanted Tsuchi to…anything. To snap out of whatever had made her work for Mother - for Gaea. But I had been told that her soul wasn't in there, and if it was, well…she'd be better off dead than trapped in a nightmarish creation like that. I had the only people that I'd ever cared for gone from my life. Gaea had betrayed me, my sister had left me, and Tsuchi was still out of my reach. I was trapped in my own head with no one to talk to but Veon, and he got boring after a while.

I bolted up the stairs. Speed-mode always helped me concentrate and distract myself. It was like I was in my own little world, where everyone else and everything was silent, the wind blocking out anything else, but brushing past me no different than a gentle breeze thanks to my immunity to it when going at high speeds. Onesan had taught me to meditate whenever I was feeling too jumpy, and once I had thought it was stupid, but now I wished that I had listened to her back then. She told me that her father had taught her to meditate, and she thought it was stupid too, until her life fell apart and it was the only thing that kept her sane and from breaking down.

Leo, Jason, and Frank were coming behind me, but I knew that I had to act quickly if I wanted to prevent what happened to Piper and the coach to happen to them. I took in the situation on deck with my speed slowing down things to a crawl when I held still. Coach Hedge and Piper were struggling against their duct tape bonds while one of the demon monkey dwarfs danced around the deck, picking up whatever wasn't tied down and sticking it in his bag.

He was maybe four feet tall, even shorter than Coach Hedge, with bowed legs and chimp-like feet, his clothes so loud they gave me vertigo. His green-plaid pants were pinned at the cuffs, and held up with brought-red suspenders over a striped pink-and-black woman's blouse. He wore half a dozen gold watches on each arm, and a zebra-patterned cowboy hat with a price tag dangling from the brim (clearly he'd stolen it. He should've gotten rid of that thing if he didn't want anyone to know, but then again, it didn't seem like he was that ashamed of it or his outfit). His skin was covered with patches of scraggly red fur, though ninety percent of his body hair seemed to be concentrated in his magnificent eyebrows.

I looked around the deck for everything that was missing, as I had memorized everything valuable on this ship the moment I first set foot on it. The others had plenty of valuable things on them, and coming up here, just dashing up the stairs without a plan, was just asking for them to get jumped. I realized that the other dwarf wasn't able to be seen at first glance when you came out of the stairwell, and I turned around to find him holding a grenade on the deck right above the door. The brown-furred dwarf was dressed even worse than his friend, in a green bowler hat like a leprechaun's, dangly diamond earrings, and a white-and-black referee's shirt.

I knew that in speed-mode he didn't have the reaction time to activate the grenade, but even an explosion that tiny would compete with my speed. I moved out of the way quickly, and it didn't seem as though the dwarf was fast enough to have even seen me. Perhaps they had their own speed-mode and that one just wasn't in it. The first dwarf, however, was actually moving, as opposed to Piper and Hedge who were barely crawling forward in time, the only indication that they were struggling in their angered and strained expressions and the positions they were in. The dwarf was moving very slowly compared to me, but he was still zipping around much faster than the others could keep up with.

Leo, Jason, and Frank had just come up the stairwell, and as they slowed to take in the situation, I realized they were pausing for far too long, long enough that the dwarf was able to activate the grenade. There was a small ' _click_ ' (which lasted a pretty long time in speed-mode) and only Leo was able to figure out what it meant and shouted "Duck!" before he hit the deck and the explosion blasted his eardrums. Leo should really consider leaving those magic grenades in a place where a thief couldn't get to them so easily. Note to self, never leave anything where dwarfs can reach them.

At least they were alive. Leo and I had been experimenting with all sorts of weapons, some based on the Archimedes sphere that he'd recovered in Rome. All of my inventions were in my room - technically Rei's room - which was still warded heavily so that no one uninvited could get in. I just counted my blessings that her power was still activated despite her not being on the ship and in…well,  _really_  far away. Leo and I had built grenades of all kinds, ones that could spray acid, fire, shrapnel, or freshly buttered popcorn (I was hungry at the time, okay?). Judging from the ringing that went out that even affected me, the dwarf had activated the flash-bang grenade (not my name, Leo's) which he'd filled with a rare vial of Apollo's music, pure liquid extract. It didn't kill, but it left them looking like they'd just done a belly flop off the deep end and were regretting it instantly.

The second dwarf in the leprechaun's hat went over to Leo, grabbed his tool belt, showed off his prize, and then danced away. I tried to run after them, but my speed-mode was faltering from the ringing in my ears. I hadn't been as close as Leo and wasn't numb and in pain on the deck, but my head was still pounding and I was slipping out and in of speed-mode so much that I had to have looked like a ghost.

I made slow progress in chasing after the dwarf as he frolicked over to the nearest ballista, which his red-furred friend was priming to launch. The brown-furred dwarf jumped onto the projectile like it was a skateboard, and his friend shot him into the sky. Red Fur pranced over to Coach Hedge, gave the satyr a big smack on the cheek, then skipped to the rail. He bowed to Leo, doffing his zebra cowboy hat, and did a backflip over the side. I finally made it to the rail and came out of speed-mode, feeling like I'd just gone on one of the tea-cup rides at an amusement park as fast as I could (it seemed like a good idea at the time, but nope).

I reached into my pocket and pulled out one of my water grenades that I'd chucked after Chrysaor and tossed it as far as I could. It exploded in the water, creating large columns of water that sprayed up and shook the water and earth. I hoped that ruined his day.

Leo managed to get up, and Jason was already on his feet, stumbling and running into things. Frank had turned into a silverback gorilla (why, I'm not sure. Maybe to commune with the monkey dwarfs, maybe to give them a smack-down) but the flash grenade had hit him hard. He was sprawled on the deck with his tongue hanging out and his gorilla eyes rolled up in his head.

" _Piper!_ " Jason called.

He staggered to the helm and carefully pulled the gag out of her mouth. I assume she said something along the lines of going after the dwarfs, based on her nod towards where they'd disappeared and the urgency in her voice.

Veon and Audrey staggered up the stairs, holding their heads, muttering things that probably meant " _Never wanna do that again_ ," or " _Okay, who set off the magic grenade?!_ "

At the mast, Coach Hedge mumbled a serious of muffled grunts that weren't very hard to translate to " _KILL THEM!_ " Considering most of the coach's sentences involved the word ' _kill_ ,' he was pretty much the easiest person on this ship to understand that didn't speak Japanese.

Below us spread the city of Bologna - a jigsaw puzzle of red-tiled buildings in a valley hemmed by green hills. This was gonna be a fun hunt, wasn't it? Just because to others my speed saved a lot of time didn't mean that I didn't have to go through the process of running around doing things manually and get tired of it. To them, I could probably search the entire city within seconds, a minute at most, but to me, I had to run around checking every nook and cranny on my own, staying concentrated the entire time. At least when I just had to run to a certain destination I could just zone out during the trip.

I sighed. "I'll be back when I find them."

Veon translated it to the others and I sped off the ship and through the city. I decided to start up the middle and ran up and down the streets, taking in all of the surroundings I could. You'd think that a pair of dwarfs dressed like that would be easy to find, but searching for them in a city was like the biggest and most tedious game of "Where's Waldo?" ever. I checked above rooftops as well, checking alleys, inside buildings, and obviously the streets. Everything was holding still at the speed that I was going, and so anything that was moving was my target.

I passed over a building before seeing a woman staring right at me, her eyes following me as I ran past. It took me a moment to realize that it was Tsuchi, a fedora covering most of her face. She was still wearing the same army/hunter outfit that she had been wearing back at the Colosseum and the cavern in New Rome. I was in speed-mode as I ran past, but she followed my movement without any trouble.

She was faster, I realized. They were supposed to be learning, and since I was the main reason she and Onesan's father weren't able to stop Veon from escaping Tartarus and prevent Onesan from reaching it, they had to be out for blood. Even if they couldn't feel emotions, they knew how to take orders, and after that first failure, they'd learn how to fight, match, or outrun my speed.

I bolted and sped up, no longer focusing much on my surroundings, the hunt for the dwarfs no longer a concern. The moment she knew I was fleeing, she gave chase after me. She was so much faster! It had only been a few days since I'd last seen her, and she wasn't straining at all as she now ran at my speed when I was pushing myself. I took corners, jumped across buildings, across water, but I knew that it was only a matter of time. My speed was the only thing that I had over her, and now that she could match it with ease, I had nothing left to give. She had inventions far better than I did, and Kandai, Rei's father, could be anywhere in the city as well, waiting to cut me off at any point.

I ran with all the speed I had, but I didn't know where to go. I didn't want to lead them back to the others, even if they already knew the location of the ship, but I knew it was only a matter of time before I was caught. Knowing that made it hard to keep up my speed with the dread of what happened when I  _was_ caught weighing down on me.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before I felt bolas wrapping around my ankles and pulling them together before I could recover. I was suddenly flung to the ground at speed as my feet were pulled out from under me, and I twisted just before I face-planted into the dirt, taking an eternity to come to a stop as I dug through the ground. Thankfully I have a strong, resilient body, as running at speeds isn't a very safe thing for mortals, but that didn't mean I didn't feel the pain. By the time I had finally stopped and tried to sit up, Tsuchi's black eyes were already staring down at me as she stepped down on my left wrist with her wedge heel. At first, I thought she'd realized I was left-handed, but she kneeled down and held my right wrist down as well, her green pupils staring intently at my brown.

"Hello, son."

I hadn't heard her voice since I was just a little kid, but I knew that it was familiar. It was robotic, as though she was testing out her voice, and considering she had barely been able to talk before, it was understandable. Still, I wanted to hear more of it. I wanted to remember her voice better, remember the short time with her that I'd had. She wasn't a perfect sister (mother, but I hadn't known that at the time), but I wanted her back. Ever since I lost her, I'd wanted her back.

"It seems you are more acquainted with your new body than I."

"W-What?"

"You remember death, do you not? The eternity you spent in Asphodel, so broken that they didn't dare take your memories and merely left you to wander with a shattered soul. Until Mother fixed you. Until you finally felt peace again, hope."

Well, yes, I remembered that, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. Right now, whenever I slipped too close to remembering that feeling, it felt more like the memories of someone else. Onesan had taught me to keep bad memories at a distance, and that's how you lived past them.

"I remember death as well, you know. I remember the pain as my soul was ripped apart each day and put back together only for more suffering the next."

"You…you went to Punishment?"

"I blasphemed against Hermes, as well as the other gods. In return, I was to suffer eternal torture in Punishment. And yet, I laughed. Each time they ripped into my soul, I laughed so loud I made them afraid of me. I made them respect me. I became a Queen of Punishment. And my reward was this body, this life, serving Mother Gaea. Tell me, my son. What is it that you think made you so different from me? You could have a strong body like mine, anything you wish, and we could be happy together, Kaze. I have longed to see my son again, and I know you have missed me as well."

Her tone was so empty that it was hard to believe she was serious. I did believe one thing. She was insane. Whatever had happened in Punishment had made her go crazy, made her laugh at pain, made her terrifying. She hadn't been a loving mother before - introducing herself as my sister, for crying out loud - but I knew that she was looking out for me. She scolded me whenever I got in trouble, wandering off, playing with some of her equipment she was using for an experiment, but in the end, she was concerned for my safety. She told me her story of how 'our mom' had met Hermes and was tricked, left abandoned, but it always boiled down to her warning me not to end up like her. She tried to hide it, but she cared. I wanted that mom back, yes, but this wasn't her.

"We can get your sister back, Kaze. We could take back our own fates from the gods that throw us away like we're nothing."

"But…but you're  _working_  for one!"

She moved her finger to her lips in a shushing motion. "For now, at least."

"Tsuchi? You're…"

"Nothing but a soldier - for the moment. Kandai is quite an idiot, and that can't be blamed on his new body's state, but he has a moral compass inside that pea brain of his. He'll wake up eventually. But if you come to Mother and have her make a body like mine for you, we'd have all the power we need. I need someone I can trust, and who better than my son? Gaea is willing to make the transformation - I've convinced her. Give it thought, Kaze. I know you'll make the right choice eventually."

With that, she released me and was running off faster than I cared to keep track of. I reached down and untied the bolas, realizing they were actually pretty advanced. The rope and the metal balls were weaved with celestial bronze along with some magnets. Inside were some circuits and devices that automatically wrapped the cord around the target and locked into place, the rope malleable until it caught something and then condensed to hold fast, making them resilient and strong enough to capture even me when I was running at speed - my ankles, no less, the fastest moving part of me when I'm running. They even seemed to be wired to give a shock to stun the target if they struggled. I wanted to pull this thing apart and see what mastery laid on the inside. I knew Tsuchi was an inventor - legacy of Hephaestus - but I hadn't had much time to appreciate it, and that was before I had gained my own eye for inventive things.

Somehow, it wasn't surprising to accept that Tsuchi had gained control in such a short time. She was stubborn to a fault, and she didn't take orders from anyone. Then again, was Tsuchi's soul really in there, or was it just the reanimation learning how to weave together the right facts to make a lie that I would believe? She couldn't speak a few days ago, and now she could form together perfect sentences. It wouldn't be long before she could learn the way to put emotions into her words, lie effortlessly. Though who she used the talent against was impossible to predict.

Even if she  _did_  want to rebel, Tsuchi was a woman who I knew would choose the side she thought would win, playing both sides until there was a clear victor - or, she'd stay out of it and make herself untouchable by both sides. It was a dangerous game, but more to those who crossed her than herself. And that was if it was really Tsuchi in there.

I walked back in the direction of the Argo II, taking my time. I wanted this all to be over. I wanted Rei back, I wanted Tsuchi back, and I wanted no more Gaea, no more gods, no more anything. I wanted things to go back to the way they were when I had been the happiest. When it had just been me and my family, together and staying away from the rest of the world. If Gaea  _did_  give me an enhanced body, would I be able to take it back? Even if it were some kind of trap, was it worth the risk to try and take control and destroy everything that was hurting all I loved? But if I did that, it also ran the risk of destroying everything that I  _loved_  instead of all that  _threatened_  it.

* * *

First Person: Zytaveon

"He's taking too long," Leo muttered.

He paced back and forth on the deck. I could feel the waves of tension as he felt desperate to retrieve the things lost, and I wasn't Emily. It was clear how Leo was about his things, especially his tool belt. Luckily Emily, Audrey, and I were behind the others by a good margin since I'd had to make sure Nico was okay, making Emily make sure that Nico was okay because she was always concerned about us, and they Audrey stayed behind too because our group was like that where we waited for each other. The dwarfs didn't even realize that we had even been there, as the grenade had been dropped between our two groups, and so we were thrown back down the stairs while Leo, Jason, and Frank were thrown forward and mugged.

"That's it. We're going after them ourselves." He turned to Jason. "You feeling good enough to control the winds? I need a lift."

Jason frowned. "Sure, but-"

"Good. We've got some monkey dudes to catch."

"Let's go," Veon agreed. "If Kaze hasn't returned, he's either gotten caught, or is still trying to find them. If it's the latter, we can meet up with him. If it's the former, we need to get moving to rescue him."

"I'll look after Frank, Piper, and Hedge," Audrey said. "Might as well make myself useful until we get to Venice and the Adriatic Sea."

He looked hesitant, as though he wanted to argue, but in the end, Jason gave in.

* * *

We appeared in a big piazza lined with white marble government buildings and outdoor cafés. Bikes and Vespas clogged the surrounding streets, but the square itself was empty except for pigeons and a few old men drinking espresso. Things were looking good as none of the locals seemed to notice the huge Greek war-ship hovering over the piazza - or the fact that Jason and Leo had just flown down and Emily and I had just appeared out of the shadow of a pigeon, Jason and I wielding swords of gold and black respectively, Emily with a dagger at her hip, and Leo…well, Leo was pretty much empty-handed.

"Where to?" Jason asked.

Leo stared at him. "Well, I dunno. Let me pull my dwarf-tracking GPS out of my tool belt…oh, wait! I don't have a dwarf-tracking GPS - or my tool belt!"

"Stay calm Leo," Emily advised. "You're making Jason feel bad."

Jason gave a face, but didn't say anything, as if he was thinking, ' _Well you didn't have to point it out…_ '

"Look, the ballista fired the first dwarf in  _that_  direction, I think."

"It's a start," I said. "Let's go."

We waded through a lake of pigeons, all talking nonsense that was making my head hurt, as I translated every one of their half-coherent comments. Order appeared and started baby-talking to them, and I knew that he - or maybe I - was going insane. He kept on cooing to them and petting them, poking their beaks like they were little babies that he was playing with, and he even started playing peek-a-boo. Combine all this with the fact that he was wearing  _my_  face, and this had become my worst nightmare.

We finally made it past the sea of pigeons, and as I walked away, Order was dragged along with me, whining as his mental image tried to stay with the birds. I was beginning to question whether this was really the most powerful Primordial deity in existence - besides Chaos, of course. Maybe being inside an incompatible host really  _was_  making Order mad, but in an entirely different way than I'd predicted. He kept complaining to me as we walked about how he invented pigeons and he had a right to talk to them when he wanted. And then he went on a rant about how he  _also_  created humanity, so I should obey his demands to stay with them and be grateful that he even let us exist for so long.

We maneuvered down a side street of clothing stores and gelato shops, the sidewalks lined with white columns covered in graffiti. A few panhandlers asked for change (I could still speak Italian thanks to Nico) and when I told Emily, she instantly dug for some money in her pockets to give to them. Leo, meanwhile, kept patting his waist - though not for money. He kept hoping his tool belt would magically reappear, though it didn't. He'd come to depend on that belt for almost anything, and I understood the feeling. I missed my lance, being able to fly, use both hands for a longer, double-bladed weapon, and having that power boost from just touching it. It felt like someone had stolen one of your hands.

"We'll find it," Emily promised.

"Yeah," Jason agreed. "Can't have our mechanic without his tool belt, right?"

Leo took a deep breath and continued forward, channeling his worry into determination. Leo had constantly been thinking of the fortune cookie that he'd gotten from Nemesis. He seemed to believe every bad thing is him paying off the debt from breaking it open to save Emily, Hazel, and Frank. The goddess had promised him help, and he'd gotten it: the code to activate the Archimedes sphere. At the time, Leo had had no choice but to use it if he wanted to save his friends - but Nemesis had warned that her help came with a price. Leo didn't lose an eye, he wasn't dead, but he seemed to be cursed.

Percy, Annabeth, and Lu were gone. The ship was hundreds of miles off course, heading towards an impossible challenge. We were supposed to rely on Leo's fire and my own weakened abilities and Hazel's inexperienced abilities over the Mist to defeat a terrifying giant and a witch, not to mention close the Doors of Death with our friends on the other side while also getting them back safely, which we had little knowledge or plan of how to do. And now, Leo had lost his tool belt and the Archimedes sphere.

"Check it out," Jason said, grabbing Leo's arm, as he was lost in thought.

We'd arrived in a smaller piazza, and looming over us was a huge bronze statue of a buck-naked Neptune. The only thing that could've been worse was if it was  _Hades_ , so in that respect, it wasn't that bad. Emily averted her eyes, but I had a feeling that if Lu were here, she'd just cross her arms poker-faced like she took that as a challenge. I smiled at the thought. She wasn't easily bashful about anything. Except her own love-life, that is.

"Ah, jeez," Leo muttered, also averting his eyes.

I guess he really didn't need to see a godly groin this early in the morning. Then again, when  _would_  any of us? Well, my 10th grade social studies class had survived, so would he. The sea god stood on a big marble column in the middle of a fountain that wasn't working (which seemed kind of ironic). On either side of Neptune, little winged putti - also known as cherubim or possibly Cupids - were sitting, kind of chillin' like, ' _What's up?_ ' Neptune himself (avoid the groin) was throwing his hip to one side in an Elvis Presley move. He gripped his trident loosely in his right hand and stretched his left hand out like he was blessing Leo (because Leo was the one standing at that angle), or possibly attempting to levitate him.

"Some kind of clue?" Leo wondered.

Jason frowned. "Maybe, maybe not. There are statues of the gods all over the place in Italy. I'd just feel better if we ran across Jupiter. Or Minerva. Anybody by Neptune, really."

"That's right," I remembered. "You Romans and Neptune don't get along, huh?"

"They've just agreed to disagree," Emily said.

Leo climbed into the dry fountain. He put his hand on the statue's pedestal, and a rush of impressions surged through his fingertips.

"Celestial bronze gears, magical levers, springs, and pistons," Emily reported.

"It's mechanical," Leo agreed. "Maybe a doorway to the dwarfs' secret lair?"

" _They're behind you, you know_ ," Order said.

I reached for my sword, which was currently strapped across my torso so that it was at my right shoulder, turning and looking frantically.

"Ooooo!" Shrieked a nearby voice. "Secret lair?"

The red-furred dwarf in the cowboy hat was sitting about thirty feet away at the nearest café table, sipping an espresso with his monkey-like foot. The brown-furred dwarf in the green bowler was perched on the marble pedestal at Neptune's feet, just above Leo's head.

"If we had a secret lair, I would want a firehouse pole," Continued Red Fur.

"And a waterslide!" Added Brown Fur, who was pulling random tools out of Leo's belt, tossing aside wrenches, hammers, and staple guns.

"Stop that!"

Leo tried to grab the dwarf's feet, but he couldn't reach the top of the pedestal.

"Too short?" Brown Fur sympathized.

"You're calling  _me_  short?" Leo looked around for something to throw, but there was nothing but pigeons, and I think we all knew he wasn't going to be catching one of them anytime soon. "Give me my belt, you stupid-"

"Now, now!" Said Brown Fur. "We haven't even introduced ourselves. I'm Akmon. And my brother over there-"

"-is the handsome one!" Red Fur finished, lifting his espresso. Judging from his dilated eyes and his maniacal grin, he didn't need any more caffeine. "Passalos! Singer of songs! Drinker of coffee! Stealer of shiny stuff!"

"Please!" Shrieked Akmon. "I steal  _much_  better than you."

Passalos snorted. "Stealing naps, maybe!"

"Hey, let's all calm down," Emily began.

"Tell  _him_  that."

He took out a knife - Piper's knife Katoptris - and started picking his teeth with it.

"Hey!" Jason yelled. "That's my girlfriend's knife!"

He lunged at Passalos, but the red-furred dwarf was too quick. He sprang from his chair, bounced off Jason's head, did a flip, and landed next to Leo, his hairy arms around Leo's waist.

"Save me?" The dwarf pleaded.

"Get off!" Leo demanded, trying to shove him away, but Passalos did a backward somersault and landed out of reach.

Leo's pants promptly fell around his knees. He stared at Passalos, who was now grinning and holding a small zig-zaggy strip of metal. Somehow, the dwarf had stolen the zipper right off Leo's pants.

"Give - stupid - zipper!" Leo stuttered, trying to shake his fist and hoist up his pants at the same time.

Order laughed. " _Oh, they're as entertaining as me._ "

"Freeze!" Emily demanded.

The two dwarfs suddenly tensed and froze like statues, looking quite surprised at their bodies' reactions.

"Great, another one," Akmon muttered, eyeing his brother. "This is all your fault."

"How is it  _my_  fault?! I didn't know there'd be a second!"

Akmon rolled his eyes. "Now I have to fix one of  _your_  messes, thank you very much."

He snapped his fingers, and a small marble rolled from his sleeve and into his hand before releasing a blinding snap of light. I heard a small cry of surprise from Emily, and felt my sword being ripped from my sheath - not as fast as Kaze could take it, but still faster than a human, by far. As I blinked the spots out of my vision, I saw Emily had instantly been gagged and bound to the Neptune statue with enough duct tape to build a boat.

"Em!"

Passalos examined Leo's zipper with a dissatisfied look. "Eh, not shiny enough."

Jason lunged with his sword, but Passalos launched himself straight up and was suddenly sitting on the statue's pedestal next to his brother, who was examining my sword. The hilt may have been golden, but it was more of a frosted texture, so not shiny. The black blade didn't have a bright tone to it, but it was still reflective enough to have a slight sheen, even if it wasn't glinting in the sunlight.

"Not very shiny, but pretty slick," He said.

Passalos put his hands to his hips proudly. "Tell me I don't have moves," He boasted.

"Okay. You don't have moves."

"Bah! Give me the tool belt! I wanna see!  _You_  got the  _sword!_ "

"No!" Akmon elbowed him away. "You got the knife and the shiny ball."

"Yes, the shiny ball is nice."

Passalos took off his cowboy hat. Like a magician producing a rabbit, he pulled out the Archimedes sphere and began tinkering with the ancient bronze dials.

"Stop!" Leo yelled. "That's a delicate machine!"

Emily concentrated, before squeezing her eyes shut and then causing Akmon to suddenly drop my sword, causing it to clang to the ground beside the fountain.

"Aw man, is she psychic?" Akmon complained.

"Well, that's new," Passalos agreed.

"Who  _are_  you two, anyway?" Jason asked.

"The Kerkopes!" Akmon's attention was moved from Emily to Jason as he narrowed his eyes. "I bet you're a son of Jupiter, eh? I can always tell."

"Just like Black Bottom," Passalos agreed.

"Black Bottom?" I asked.

"Yes, you know," Akmon grinned. "Hercules. We called him Black Bottom because he used to go around without clothes. He got so tan that he backside, well-"

"Okay, nevermind!" I interrupted.

"At least he had a sense of humor!" Passalos said. "He was going to kill us when we stole from him, but he let us go because he liked our jokes. Not like you boys. Grumpy, grumpy!"

" _What does a nosey pepper do?_ " Order asked. " _Get's jalapeno business!_ "

Please tell me Order was  _not_  going to start rattling off endless jokes now.

" _What did the little fish say when he swam into a wall? DAM! A mushroom walked into a bar, and the bartender says "Hey, get out of here! We don't serve mushrooms here," and the mushroom says "Why not? I'm a fungi!" How do you make a tissue dance? You put a little boogie in it!_ "

Gods of Egypt, kill me now.

" _I am Primordial Order. I'm where_ all _religions originated, including the Egyptians._ "

Is this what Lu was going through while Order was in  _her?_

" _Not really. I guess you could say you make me feel alive while I suck your life force away slowly but surely. You know, I hate Russian dolls - they're so full of themselves._ "

"Hey, I've got a sense of humor," Leo snarled. "Give me back our stuff, and I'll tell you a joke with a good punch line."

"Nice try!" Akmon pulled a ratchet wrench from the tool belt and spun it like a noisemaker. "Oh, very nice! I'm definitely keeping this! Thanks, Blue Bottom!"

We paused in confusion, before Leo glanced down and realized his pants had slipped around his ankles again, revealing his blue undershorts. "That's it!" He shouted. "My stuff. Now. Or I'll show you how funny a flaming dwarf is."

His hands caught fire.

"Now we're talking," Jason said, thrusting his sword into the sky.

Dark clouds began to gather over the piazza, and thunder boomed. I waved my hand and summoned the Kako to turn the statue at the dwarfs' feet to tar, gripping them and holding them in place.

"Oh, scary!" Akmon shrieked.

"Yes," Passalos agreed. "If only we had a secret laid to hide in."

"Alas, this statue isn't the doorway to a secret lair. It has a different purpose."

" _Watch out_ ," Order advised.

The fire in Leo's hand died. "Trap!"

He dove out of the fountain, but unfortunately, Jason was too busy summoning his storm. I dived to the other side, I felt something snag by ankle and was pulled back. Leo rolled on his back as five golden cords shot from the Neptune statue's fingers, one barely missing his feet, but the rest coming after Jason and I. The rest of the wires homed in on Jason, wrapping him like a rodeo calf and yanking him upside down. The two of us ended up smacking into each other back-to-back. A bolt of lightning blasted the tines of Neptune's trident, sending arcs of electricity up and down the statue, but the Kerkopes had already disappeared, having dug themselves out of the tar.

Only one of my ankles was bound, Jason thoroughly hogtied except for his sword arm, his four cords wrapping together with mine like a tangled mess of balloon. He was trying to cut the cords with his gold blade, but was having no luck. I pulled my other foot up and wrapped it around the cord that I was hanging from, attempting to get a grip and pull myself up. Sadly I was lacking in upper-body strength, and I wasn't flexible enough to reach the cord and find a way to free myself.

"Bravo!" Akmon applauded from a nearby café table. "You make a wonderful piñata, son of Jupiter!"

"Yes!" Passalos agreed. "Hercules hung us upside down once, you know. Oh, revenge is sweet!"

"Dude, we blasted that guy with enough food to fill a house," I said. "We don't like him either."

" _Aw, do you two need some time alone?_ " Order asked, boop-ing my nose.

I scowled and swatted him away. Though my hand went through him, he still vanished into smoke. I waved my hand and summoned the Kako to appear, and they popped up around Passalos, who was trying to juggle two pigeons and the Archimedes sphere.

"Eek!"

The dwarf jumped out of the ring of Kako just before they all dived in to merge into a large orb of tar that would've trapped him. On the bright side, they managed to grab the Archimedes sphere (as well as save those pigeons, which Order seemed very happy about).

"Time to leave!" Akmon decided.

He topped his bowler and sprang away, jumping from table to table. The Kako puddles of tar began to form underneath every place that he stepped, but he moved so quickly that the Kako didn't have time to form before he was stuck. Passalos glanced back at the Kako with the Archimedes sphere, who had turned into one large Kako (and weirdly enough chose to burp out one pigeon and fart out the other).

"Wanna try and take it from him?" I challenged.

"Bye!" Passalos did a backflip and ran after his brother.

Leo ran over to us. "Hold on. If I can find a release switch-"

"Just go!" I demanded.

I made my Kako walk over to Leo and then produce the Archimedes sphere from his hand.

"I'll get my Kako to free us, and we'll follow you when we get out."

"But-!"

"Don't lose them!" Jason agreed.

Emily said a muffled. " _Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-Mmmm._ "

" _She says, 'You can do this, Leo,'_ " Order said.

Though Leo didn't understand, he took a deep breath and seemed ready for action. Having some alone time with the monkey dwarfs didn't seem like a very good idea, considering how good we were doing so far, but Emily got his confidence going, at least for now. The Kerkopes were already disappearing around the far corner of the piazza, and if I didn't know where they were going, it would be hard to keep the Kako following them while they were out of my sight.

Leo turned and left us, running after them.


	8. I Hate Dwarfs and Bologna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second chapter in a double update. Thanks to some shenanigans and lack of concentration, I posted this before the chapter that was supposed to become before it, so to that one follower out there, if it looks like I just posted two chapters with the same name, it has been fixed.
> 
> Sorry for the lack of dialogue in Kaze's part. I had planned for the section to be Kaze's perspective, but realized half way through that Kaze wouldn't be close to comprehending English from Japanese within less than a month, even if he is surrounded by it.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! :)

First Person: Zytaveon

"Get ready to hold your breath, Jason," I ordered.

"Why?"

"The Kako are gonna get us out of this. They're gonna eat the wires holding us and give us a soft landing. But they're going to need to grab us from above and below so they can make sure we don't fall on our heads. I don't think you need another date with rock to the skull."

"Can't you just…I don't know, shadow-travel us out?"

To be honest, I didn't think I was capable of shadow-travel anymore. I may have felt better thanks to Hecate's Mist, but it was just an illusion - a powerful illusion, but an illusion nonetheless. The Kako remained the only thing that didn't seem to actually feed on my power. If it came from Gaea, she could cut me off at any time that she wanted, but if she didn't, it meant that no one else would be able to take the power away, and it wouldn't run out at any time like my other powers.

"I can't reach the shadows from here, in case you hadn't noticed. Once we get down, we need to help Emily too."

The tar began to appear on the statue, and climbed down the wires holding us. At the same time, a tar puddle darkened at the ground beneath us and began to bulge upwards. Jason took a deep breath as the tar enveloped us. I allowed myself to melt into the tar as well and took control of it from the inside, eating away at the metal wires and avoiding doing any harm to Jason. The Kako and I worked quickly at the wires, before Jason was freed and the Kako tar caught him, lowering him down to the ground before releasing him and retreating back into the ground. I reformed beside him as the tar dripped down off of Jason and left him lying on the ground. He took a deep breath of relief, looking around to find his sword behind him.

"Cool," He said.

We stood and hurried over to Emily.

"I'm gonna rip this tape off, okay?" I warned.

She nodded, and I grabbed the tape on her mouth before quickly pulling it off.

She took a deep breath and sighed. "We need to hurry after them."

"Are they working for Gaea?"

"No. They're just causing mischief to cause mischief. Gaea doesn't think we're going down this path, remember? Hecate's cloaking us as best she can, and at the very least, Gaea can't pinpoint our exact location. Hecate warned us of the dwarfs being here, and I believe they've just been living here anyway. But they're just planning to play around with Leo now that they think we're out of the picture. Leo doesn't have his tool belt. If he wants to find a way to stop them, he's going to need some equipment or something to trick them."

Jason started getting to work on tearing the duck tape that was trapping Emily, but she was practically under a mattress of the material. I put my hand to the wall of tape and it began to turn to tar, eating through the layers, but it wasn't a fast process.

"The stuff's built tough," I explained. "It's sticky and makes a liquid-proof seal. Because the separate layers are so thin yet pressed together, it's hard for the tar to get in there. But not impossible. We're making progress, don't worry."

The tar darkened the tape in a dot near the size of my hand, and slowly began to expand. Jason went to carefully sawing away at the edges of the tape, trying to avoid getting his sword anywhere near Emily in case he miscalculated and poked or slashed at her arm. As the tar formed, it began to get out of the way as fast as it could so that we could thin out the layers.

" _Veon-san!_ "

I turned and saw the red blur that was Kaze zooming up and coming to a stop beside us.

" _What happened?_ "

" _Dwarfs. Leo ran after them. I freed me and Jason, and Emily's almost free-_ "

Kaze disappeared and we felt the breeze as he zoomed around. In a flash, he was standing back where he had been a moment before, only Emily was now free and all of the remaining duck tape was at her feet.

" _Which way did they go?_ "

" _That way, but I lost them when they turned that corner so they could be-_ "

But Kaze zoomed off and was gone before I could finish.

"Great. He's gone after them."

"We should try and keep up," Emily said.

"They could be anywhere at this point. After turning that corner, we have no leads on where to go."

"Jason, you can fly and search the city from above while Veon uses the shadows and his Kako to search. I'll search on the ground out here, ask people if they saw Leo - or even Kaze if he found Leo first. Any of us get a lead, we give a signal. I should be able to increase my powers enough that you guys notice a difference in your emotional state. I'll target you guys specifically, so I'm not affecting everyone in Bologna, and since we've spent so much time together, it shouldn't be too hard."

"Sounds simple enough," I sighed. "Let's get going."

I melted into the tar, and we began the search for the others.

* * *

First Person: Kaze

It didn't take long (at least in my opinion) to find Leo. He was stumbling as he ran, apparently having trouble with his pants. Was that because his tool belt also acted as his actual belt, and now that it was gone he was having trouble with his pants? Considering how small Leo was, it wouldn't be surprising that the lack of a belt had his pants slipping to his ankles.

"Leo!"

There were two ancient stone towers jutting into the sky, side by side, much taller than anything else in the neighborhood - maybe medieval watchtowers? - leaning in different directions like gearshifts on a race car. Leo seemed to be focusing his attention on the tower on the right one, scanning the neighborhood for something.

When he heard his name, he turned to see me. He asked a series of frantic questions, but I realized, too late, that I couldn't understand him.

"Stop!" I shouted.

Even if he didn't know what I was saying, he did understand that I was in pain from trying to translate all of his complicated syllables (not to mention the fact that I was covering my ears). I took a deep breath and braced myself for the painful process of charades that we were about to go through. Leo talked complicated enough when someone was translating for me, but at least this will force him to simplify his point.

"Where are the dwarfs?" I asked first, miming the short monkey men by putting my hand down to their approximate height and then shrugging with an exaggerated confused expression.

I could tell when he understood because he got that euphoric face and went to pointing up at the tower he had been looking at. I pointed to him and then myself before pointing up the tower, tracing my finger up the side. Leo nodded his head, but then quickly held his hand up for me to stop before we went up. He mimed drawing something on his hand, and I first thought he wanted to write something down. He held up one finger, paused, then held up two, and then three, and I finally realized that he wanted to make a plan.

He held up the Archimedes sphere, and I nodded, but he patted his waist where his tool belt had been in frustration. I thought about it, before sitting down and reaching into my pockets and pulling out every tool that I could think of - and as an inventor, as well as a son of a legacy of Hephaestus (therefore making me, like, Leo's second nephew, if that's even a thing) - I believe I was qualified to have gotten everything possible. My jacket didn't produce things that I hadn't put in there in the first place, they merely have infinite storage space, but I had (predictably) made a habit of stealing things, especially tools that I'd need as an inventor (you never know what you need when you're gonna have an inventor epiphany).

Leo looked like he wanted to kiss me and started grabbing some of the miscellaneous objects. Considering I could sense when a toothpaste tube contained potassium nitrate, I could tell that he was using a similar or identical technique that I did. He grabbed charcoal, sugar and baking soda, matches, bug spray, aluminum foil, and he also grabbed a laundry cord he could use as a belt (like I said, you never know what you'll need or when you'll have an inventor epiphany).

We ducked into the nearest doorway where we could keep an eye on the towers and worked quickly. Leo summoned fire to dry out materials and do a little cooking that otherwise would've taken days to complete. My speed and ability to keep up with the language of technology, if not English, made the process take only a few minutes. Leo would sneak a look at the tower every once in a while, but there was no sign of the dwarfs.

Curiosity got the best of me and I ran up there at high enough speed that everything was still, searching for the location of the dwarfs. They seemed to be in a room where they had kept their jackpot of stolen things, talking to each other in a seemingly joyous way while playing poker hanging from the rafters, probably laughing at Leo or something. I made sure to take caution of everything in the room, seeing as I could sense plenty of surprises that were build to prevent anyone from getting into the room. However, the door seemed to have been left wide open. They  _wanted_  Leo to walk in there and play with him some more since they thought he was helpless.

I decided not to take them on right now, despite the powerful urge, because I wouldn't be able to communicate with them to find out what Hecate said they would have that was useful to us. Bringing them back to the ship even if I  _did_  take them down would be risky without my ability to speak English. Anything they say could be important - whether it be them saying something suggesting a trick up their sleeve, or something that might be important to the crew. Language barriers were very painful. Besides, having Leo beat them up with the weapons that we were making would be just as satisfying.

None of the others seemed to have come with Leo to track the dwarfs, possibly restrained when they attempted to stop them. The dwarfs didn't seem to think Leo was a threat without his tool belt, and now they were just playing around with him. The others on the ship were probably still recovering from the attack, meaning it was just us and some highly improvised weapons made from sugar and toothpaste. Oh, and the Archimedes sphere. There didn't seem to be any concerning damage to it, as the dwarfs were thieves, but they didn't know how to operate it, for better or worse.

Between the Archimedes sphere and Daedalus's laptop, being with this crew had significantly expanded my view on technology, and it was extremely intriguing to learn about all of the inventions and ideas that could come out of such things. I had a few electronics in my pockets (not that I'm able to keep track of them all; I just shove them in their and sometimes forget about them) which were very valuable when working with the bare minimum of what you had with you to create weapons. We modified a few things, and I created a few backup plans, trying to figure out everything that  _I_  would do to prevent people that I stole something from getting revenge and taking into account every possibility, before we decided we were ready and ran to the tower.

We went into the entrance, starting up the winding stairs inside, only to be stopped at a ticket booth by some caretaker who yelled at us in Italian. See, this is why I like using my speed to just run straight past people like this. Leo spoke Spanish, and Italian and Spanish were close, right? Like Chinese and Japanese?

Leo tried to explain something, holding up a can of bug spray and then pantomiming a dwarf melting in terror, which the Italian must've half understood, but wasn't impressed by. He just held out his palm for money. Leo sighed and grumbled something, before searching his pockets and - to our amazement - finding some euro notes from his time in Rome. Those stupid dwarfs have taken everything  _except_  his money.

The man took the money and counted it begrudgingly, before looking to me. I considered knocking the guy into next month before figuring that I had to have  _something_  in my pockets that would satisfy. When I reached in and requested the thing that the guy wanted, I didn't get money, I got a bag of junk food called Fonzies. I guess they were some kind of chips. To even more surprise than before, the guy actually took the bag with a shrug. " _Avanti!_ "

No idea what that meant, but it sounded like the green light. I made a mental note to stock up on Fonzies, since apparently they were better than cash in Italy. We continued climbing the stairs (damn, Leo was slow and I wasn't even doing  _any_  speed manipulation at the moment). In his defense, the stairs went on, and on, and on. The whole tower seemed to be nothing but an excuse to build a staircase. Leo had to stop on a landing and slumped against a narrow barred window, trying to catch his breath. He was sweating like crazy, and his heart was thumping against his ribs.

Stupid Kerkopes. If Leo wasn't able to keep up when we got there and the dwarfs just jumped away before he could use his weapons, I was going to go mad. I should make an instant translator for my language problems. I had never really needed one until now, and translators were hard to program (if Google translate has taught me anything), but it would save me so much time and pain.

We continued forward, and when Leo was practically ready to pass out from exhaustion, his legs feeling like overcooked noodles, we reached the summit. The dwarfs would get a kick out of this, huh? I urged Leo to walk into the room the size of about a broom closet, with barred windows on all four walls. The traps of the room seemed to be absent, but if I went in, the dwarfs would know that there was another threat and would be on alert.

Leo got the point when I waved him forward, and muttered something that must've been sarcastic annoyance, but he went inside anyway. I felt exposed without being in speed-mode, even if I wasn't in the room, but if I was sped up, everything would take far too long, or even come to a stop. I could slow down the rest of the world, but sadly, I couldn't speed the rest of the world up.

Shoved in the corners were sacks of treasure, shiny goodies, spilling all over the floor. Leo spotted Piper's knife, an old leather-bound book, a few interesting-looking mechanical devices, and enough gold to give Veon and Hazel's horses stomachaches. For a moment, there was just silence, and I wondered if the dwarfs  _had_  left, and prepared myself for running around the city searching for them and kicking their arses for this, but when Leo looked up, he noticed Akmon and Passalos hanging upside down from the rafters by their chimp feet, still playing antigravity poker. When they saw Leo, they threw their poker cards like confetti and broke out in applause.

Akmon shrieked in delight, a slight bit of surprise and gleeful joy in his response, probably laughing about how amazing it was that Leo actually made it the entire way. Passalos shrugged and took off one of his gold watches and handed it to his brother, which I assumed was the result of a bet or something that they had to see if Leo would actually make the climb.

They both dropped to the floor. Akmon was wearing Leo's tool belt, and I knew Leo was resisting the urge to lunge for it (I was an expert on being impulsive when it came to getting what I wanted, after all). Passalos straightened his cowboy hat and kicked open the grate on the nearest window, saying something snarky to his brother, probably something about how they should make Leo climb something else.

Leo forced a smile before claiming something that got the dwarfs' attention, saying something that they'd forgotten something. Akmon said something that showed his skepticism, but Leo played it off confidently. He held up a bag that I'd given him, one that looked like it had once held money or treasure, and so the dwarfs inched closer. As we'd hoped, their curiosity was so strong that they couldn't resist. Leo made sure to make it look like a grand gesture, pretending that he was showing off how the dwarfs hadn't stolen something shiny for them and making them think he was just offering something else for them to take.

Leo brought out his first weapon - a lump of dried chemicals wrapped in aluminum foil - and lit it with his hand. Leo and I knew enough to turn away when it popped, but the dwarfs were staring right at it. Toothpaste, sugar, and bug spray weren't as good as Apollo's music (I was going to punch those dwarfs for using that stuff - it was valuable!), but they made for a pretty decent flash-bang. The Kerkopes wailed, clawing at their eyes. They stumbled towards the window, but I ran in and slammed the grate on the window closed, setting off the homemade firecrackers - snapping them around the dwarfs' bare feet to keep them off balance. Then, for good measure, Leo turned the dial on his Archimedes sphere, which unleashed a plume of foul white fog that filled the room.

Leo wasn't bothered by the smoke. Being immune to fire, he'd stood in smoky bonfires, endured dragon breath, and cleaned out blazing forges plenty of times. I waved my hand at speed, blowing the smoke away from myself and concentrating even more of it at the dwarfs (I'd had yet to master my ability to turn into air, nor control the wind at all besides blowing the wind around manually), and while they were hacking and wheezing, Leo grabbed his tool belt from Akmon, calmly summoned some bungee cords, and I tied up the dwarfs before they could even realize what was happening. For good measure, I took Leo's tool belt and summoned some proper restraints and made sure they weren't going anywhere any time soon.

The two of them shouting things in agony. After making sure they were securely bound, I dragged the Kerkopes into one corner of the room while Leo began rifling through their treasures. He retrieved Piper's dagger, a few of his prototype grenades, and a dozen other odds and ends that the dwarfs had taken from the Argo II. I went around the room in speed-mode looking for anything that I knew they had taken, as well as stealing some things that they  _hadn't_  and keeping them for myself. I made sure to keep a close eye on them to make sure they didn't have any tricks up their sleeves, giving them a couple kicks and punches (in speed-mode, mind you) when they attempted to free themselves or struggle, which felt very good.

Akmon and Passalos seemed to be begging and trying to make a deal, but Leo wasn't impressed. Just then, thunder boomed overhead. Lightning flashed, and the bars on the nearest window burst into sizzling, melted stubs of iron. Jason flew in like Peter Pan, electricity sparking around him and his gold sword steaming. The floor darkened as Kako suddenly shot up and out, forming faster than they usually would and one diving for the dwarfs, engulfing them and holding them up on display. Now they  _definitely_  weren't going anywhere, and even if they did have a trick, the tar would be able to contain any explosion of light or otherwise.

Veon appeared at the center of the room with his sword drawn. "So, who wants to take a slice first?"

Emily formed next to him, looking dizzy and falling to sit down and muttering something about traveling through tar, I assumed. Leo whistled appreciatively, most likely congratulating their entrances despite them being a few minutes too late.

Jason looked around and asked something.

"So, uh…" Veon said. "What happened?"

Leo gave a proud face and said something. I hoped he wasn't saying that he did it all by himself.

When he waved over to me, I smiled and punched the two dwarfs again. "I  _hate_  dwarfs," I declared. "Next time I face these things, I'm going to skin them alive before they can even scream."

Veon looked a bit disgusted, but I was angry, okay? These guys were more trouble than they were worth, and the only reason they were still alive was because we needed them to find out what Hecate had said they had.

"How you find us?" I asked. "And what happened to you guys?"

"I went searching around the entire city, that's what. I found Leo first, who seemed to have found the dwarfs, and we made a plan."

I decided to keep Tsuchi a secret, or at least think about it some more before I said anything. Veon was the only person that I could talk to anyway, and though I liked him, I still trusted Onesan more than him. Leo tossed Jason Piper's dagger, and then we went to rummaging through the bags of dwarf shinnies. There were coins, gold nuggets, jewelry, paper clips, foil wrappers, cuff links, and more, but I wasn't sure what I was looking for. Anything that didn't belong, I suppose. All of the stuff that we were finding were generic things to steal just because they looked shiny or expensive - believe me, I knew - but nothing that seemed out of the ordinary.

Finally, there were a few things that caught my eye that Leo seemed to have brushed aside in his search as I approached his side of the pile of goodies. One was an old bronze navigation device, like an astrolabe from a ship. It was badly damaged and seemed to be missing some pieces, but it was still fascinating, and I got that tingle and urge to pick it apart and find a way to fix it and get it working.

Passalos said something eagerly, and Veon seemed surprised. "Odysseus?"

The others seemed just as surprised, and Passalos took the opportunity to brag about it in the hopes that it might gain them their freedom if he upped the value of the thing.

"He says Odysseus made it when he was an old man in Ithaca, one of his last inventions."

I stared at the navigation device again in interest. We definitely wanted to pick this apart. Odysseus was favored by Athena, not Hephaestus or Hermes, but he was still a brilliant man. What use would he have for a navigation device? If I went through a journey like he did, I wouldn't want to get  _close_  to the sea again.

"A missing crystal," Veon reported. "Odysseus had muttered 'My biggest what-if; should've taken a crystal' in his sleep when they'd stolen it."

Crystal? There were all kinds of crystals in the world, the most abundant and useful being quartz. But if it were some kind of godly-related magic crystal, that might be something interesting as the navigation device. Perhaps it would be useful. The astrolabe was obviously broken, but nothing can't be fixed, or at the very least, reused for another purpose. Just studying the thing could give me a way to recreate another one, or maybe help with the upgrades to the ship.

I slipped it into my jacket pocket and turned my attention to another strange piece of loot - the leather-bound book. Its title was in gold leaf, in a language I couldn't understand (not that I wasn't used to that already), but nothing else about the book seemed shiny. I didn't figure the Kerkopes for big readers.

"What's this?" I asked, wagging it at the dwarfs, who were still teary-eyed from the smoke.

Veon translated, and Akmon had a very defensive reaction, seemingly saying that it wasn't important. He did mention something that Leo repeated, and Veon translated that they'd stolen it from some minor god in Venice.

"Isn't Venice the place that we're supposed to go next?" I asked.

Leo nodded and said something conformational before looking at the book. It had lots of illustrations: scythes, different plants, a picture of the sun, a team of oxen pulling a cart. These didn't seem very important for a quest - more like pictures for an agricultural book or something. But if the book had been stolen from a minor god in Venice - the next place Hecate had told us to visit - then this  _had_  to be what we were looking for.

Leo asked something about the book, and the two dwarfs panicked. Jason finished Akmon's sentence and pressed the point of his sword against Akmon's furry throat threateningly. Emily then stepped in and pushed Jason aside gently, before saying something nicely to the dwarfs. I couldn't even understand her and she still had a relaxing effect, and seemed to be bargaining with them.

"La Casa Nera. Calle Frezzeria."

I knew enough about English to know that that wasn't it. It sounded closer to Italian, but it wasn't Italian either, the accent slightly different. But this world had a lot of dialects based on the Italian language, so who knew?

"The Nera house? Frezzeria Street?" Veon translated.

Leo asked something and the dwarfs nodded vigorously before begging something. Emily asked a question in her nice voice, and the dwarfs started trying to pronounce something but failed. It was probably the name of the person who they got the book from, maybe a god or just someone revived from the dead based on the hard name.

"Tr…tri…" Passalos attempted, before he shouted something about the word's difficulty.

"Truh…tru-toh-" Akmon tried, before whining about the name.

Jason said something involving Tartarus with his sword raised, and the dwarfs panicked, begging quickly with something about Gaea - probably about how she wouldn't be very happy considering she controls the only way back from being dead. Emily got them to calm down and Jason to stand down, before getting into a dealer tone. I had to admit that these guys wouldn't be too bad if they weren't against us. They were pranksters that liked to steal shiny things. I might have been just like them once, if I wasn't still like them, if just a little, right now. Or maybe that was just Emily getting to me.

The dwarfs' eyes lit up at Emily's words, and though she did give some kind of condition, she seemed to sell a good point, and Veon smiled. "We're gonna send them after the Romans!" He realized.

There was something about Styx, meaning they'd made some kind of promise on her river, and the dwarfs eagerly agreed. Veon even seemed to say something to sweeten the deal, but they were already convinced.

Everyone left the room, before Veon made the Kako release them and I untied them from their restraints. We said farewell to the dwarfs (sadly I was required to leave  _some_  of their shiny things with them in return for whatever we were having them do) and I was just happy that was over with.

With them on top of Tsuchi, I had a new hatred for bologna.


	9. Close Encounters of the Empousai

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Kicks free time and muse in the face* How dare you two abandon me?! You left me with schoolwork and sleep deprivation for weeks!
> 
> So yeah, my muse and free time have been properly captured. Hopefully, they shall stay with me.
> 
> My previous chapters had been hastily written like a month in advance so that I could post them and satisfy readers as well as my own OCD need to post stuff frequently enough to not leave readers hanging or have them lose interest in a story that rambles on and on.
> 
> As a reader who frequents FanFic often, I know how it feels to wait even a week for another update, two weeks for some, months for a couple where I forget what happened in the previous chapters and have to re-read those too, and - I kid you not - a story that I'm following that has updated once every year at best! And they are at the third story that's following the storyline of a videogame series. A very long videogame series at that. Like - longer than what I've written - long. And they haven't disappeared and abandoned their stories either, they've just had life dropping bombs on them to prevent them from reaching the computer to update. They have a good story too.
> 
> So yeah, makes you really excited about growing up, huh? Oh life, why must you drag us away from our glorious Fan Fiction?!
> 
> On that note, happy Pi day! Fun fact that you may or may not have known: write out 3.14 and then mirror it. It's PIE! That blew my mind the first time I realized that. I get amused very easily.
> 
> Enjoy! :)

First Person: Lucy

You know, I'd imagined people going on romantic walks before. This wasn't one of them. Percy and Annabeth looked like a nice couple, loving, protective of each other, Percy trying to lighten the mood when it was dark, Annabeth offering smart suggestions when Percy was out of ideas. When the alternative was Annabeth falling down to Tartarus and dying on impact, I suppose this was a better option, but still.

We followed the River Phlegethon, stumbling over the glassy black terrain, jumping over crevices, and hiding behind rocks whenever the vampire girls slowed in front of us. The number of times they slowed had me concerned. If I sensed or thought I heard someone behind me multiple times, I would be preparing an ambush. I took charge of the group, having to focus on both the vampires and Percy and Annabeth. It was crucial that they understood my hand gestures so that our cover wasn't blown, and even once the vampires went out of sight, I held the two of them back despite their protests so that we could allow the vampires to feel they were safe and have no evidence of being trailed.

They were concerned that the vamps would disappear somehow if they went out of our sight, and in Tartarus, I wouldn't put it against this place, but my sonar could stretch pretty far, and they never disappeared. The dark hazy air did make things feel claustrophobic and a little out of control, but the heat from the river seemed a bit of a comfort, as though grounding me and giving me a landmark that didn't let me get lost in the darkness. My skin was usually very resistant to heat and burning, but the river was burning me just as much as usual. Each breath was like inhaling sulfur-scented fiberglass. When we needed a drink, the best we could do was sip some refreshing liquid fire.

Yep. Percy definitely knew how to show a girl a good time.

At least Annabeth's ankle seemed to have healed. She was hardly limping at all, her various cuts and scrapes faded. She'd tied her blond hair back with a strip of denim torn from her pants leg, and in the fiery light of the river, her gray eyes flickered. I pulled my hair up with a random strip of white cloth that I had in my jacket pocket. I stuffed random things in my pockets sometimes that I thought would be useful, and I realized that it was a part of an old T-shirt that I was using as an eraser for when we'd use whiteboards in school. I couldn't believe that I still had it in there after nearly three quarters of a year since I'd left, but I was glad that I had it now. Being beat-up, sooty, and dressed like a homeless person could be worse. If anything, we looked like the newest versions of Lara Croft. Tomb Raider: Tartarus Edition.

I guess Percy looked okay as well. His clothes looked like he'd been through a hurricane of glass, he was pretty thirsty, hungry, and scared out of his mind, as my diagnostics abilities from Apollo were telling me, but at least he'd shaken off the cold of the River Cocytus, and though the firewater tasted nasty, at least it seemed to keep him going. Considering he and Annabeth were alive, that was a victory for him. And I was here too, by the way.

So what if we were in Tartarus? So what if we stood a slim chance of surviving? At the very least, we were doing well for where we were, and with the River Phlegethon able to keep them alive, not to mention it was following our path to the Doors of Death as well. Now all that remained was finding a way to contact Chaos and figure out the trials.

Time was impossible to judge. We trudged along, following the river as it cut through the harsh landscape. The empousai weren't exactly speed-walkers, making them easy to keep track of, but agonizingly slow to the point of boring me. They shuffled on their mismatched bronze and donkey legs, hissing and fighting with each other, apparently in no hurry to reach the Doors of Death. I'd almost prefer fighting the damn things. Not to mention the brightness of the fire, the harsh air, and the heat were giving me a migraine. Perfect time for a headache to start pounding through my skull. Once, the demons sped up in excitement and swarmed something that looked like a beached carcass on the riverbank. I couldn't tell what it was - a fallen monster? An animal of some kind? Either way, the empousai attacked it with relish, but halted their progress and basically negated any advantage they had over their previous progression speed.

When the demons moved on, we reached the spot and found nothing left except a few splintered bones and glistening stains drying in the heat of the river. I had a feeling they devoured demigods with the same gusto. It actually turned out to be helpful, allowing me to assess how they ate - how sharp their teeth were, how sharp their claws were, if they used their hands to tear the food apart or if they did it purely with their teeth, etc. My hunting and survival skills were coming back to me, but my headache made it about as fun as doing a research project while you were sick.

We continued after them, and I thought about what it was like up in the mortal world. All those challenges we'd ever faced, all the battles we'd fought, falling into traps, losing weapons, having to resort to terrible acting. I'd even participated in the war against Kronos not long ago. My friends always thought I was doing nothing after school, on my weekends, during summer, but in actuality, I was running around being a demigod. I remembered the good old days, texting my friends about playing video games while fighting on the front lines, shooting my gun with one hand with my phone in the other.

Wow. When you start looking back on previous wars like with Kronos as the good old days - that was just sad. It was like the Three Fates were up there spinning our futures with barbed wire instead of thread just to see how much we could tolerate.

After a few more miles, the empousai disappeared over a ridge. When we caught up, we found ourselves at the edge of another massive cliff. The River Phlegethon spilled over the side in jagged tiers of fiery waterfalls. The demon ladies were picking their way down the cliff, jumping from ledge to ledge like mountain goats. The landscape below was a bleak, ash-gray plain bristling with black trees, like insect hair. The ground was pocketed with blisters, and every once in a while, a bubble would swell and burst, disgorging a monster like larva from an egg.

"Great," I muttered.

Percy definitely wasn't hungry now. All the newly formed monsters were crawling and hobbling in the same direction - towards a bank of black fog that swallowed the horizon like a storm front. The Phlegethon flowed in the same direction until about halfway across the plain, where it met another river of black water - maybe the Cocytus. The two floods combined in a steaming, boiling cataract and flowed on as one towards the black fog. The longer I looked, the less I wanted to go down into the storm of darkness. It could be hiding anything - an ocean, a bottomless pit, an army of monsters. But if the Doors of Death were in that direction, that was the only way to get back home.

Percy peered over the edge of the cliff. "Wish we could fly. Lu?"

"I could maybe carry myself at best, even with the boost of the Phlegethon, and I could only slow my decent. Let alone two passengers."

Annabeth rubbed her arms. "Remember Luke's winged shoes? I wonder if they're still down here somewhere."

"The shoes that drag their wearer down to Tartarus?" I remembered. "Well, seeing as we're already here, I think that caveat doesn't matter anymore. Not really a fan of relying on my shoes to fly, though. That's like balancing on a reverse pendulum."

Percy, not really fully understand that, gave a face. "I'd settle for a hang glider."

"Maybe not a good idea."

Annabeth pointed. Above us, dark winged shapes spiraled in and out of the bloodred clouds.

"Furies?" Percy wondered.

"I've met Furies," I said. "Those may be their distant cousins at best, but they are  _not_  Furies. Could be some other kind of demon too. Tartarus has thousands."

"Including the kind that eats hang gliders," Percy guessed. "Okay, so we climb."

I couldn't see the empousai below anymore. They'd disappeared behind one of the ridges, and I worried they were waiting in ambush for us, but that didn't matter too much. It was clear where we needed to go, and we no longer needed to follow them, so we could avoid them at any time. Like all the maggot monsters crawling over the plains of Tartarus, we should head towards the dark horizon. I could sense we were just brimming with enthusiasm for that, and I wasn't even Emily.

We once again began the treacherous task of climbing down another tier of Tartarus, only this time, we had to be careful not to let any rocks fall or cause any rockslides that would alert the empousai to our presence. Not to mention I had to keep an eye out for Percy and Annabeth to make sure they didn't fall to their deaths. I could catch one at most, but if it was Percy, it would probably be much harder to catch his weight.

About halfway down the precipice, Annabeth said, "Stop, okay? Just a quick break."

Her legs were wobbling badly from fatigue. I was eager to keep moving, better to get it over with than let the impending rest of the climb loom on us for the duration of our break, but I knew that Annabeth and Percy weren't soldiers, and they didn't know how to activate their desperation reserves of energy. Having complete access to your fight or flight adrenaline rush was probably something that came from my mom, but it was hard to be sure. I always just had to concentrate, never really straining myself or pushing myself Hulk-style, just blocking out my pain and getting into a zen where I concentrated my energy for longer than I could normally. Considering I learned that from my dad, I guess that power came from  _him_.

We rested on a ledge next to a roaring fiery waterfall. Percy put his arm around Annabeth, and she leaned against him, shaking from exhaustion. I could sense Percy's hunger from the short distance away I was standing. I might need to be afraid of if we came across another monster carcass. He might pull an empousa and try to devour it. They were going through a lot, I realized. It hadn't really sunk in how scary this must be for them. I couldn't put myself in their shoes, or perhaps I didn't want to. I couldn't be killed at the moment, and facing trials to escape seemed a lot less daunting than struggling to get to the Doors of Death and fight our way through to close them. I knew, logically, that the trials were supposed to be hard, practically tearing my soul apart while the two Primordials fought over me, but even I couldn't imagine how that would feel. I've been through pain, torture, absolute terror, and bravery in the face of that terror. I've had nightmares where I had little control and anything could happen, I've been lost and depressed, but the kind of pain that this fight could place upon me? I couldn't fathom the level of torment.

At least the two of them had each other. They would find a way out of Tartarus, even if I failed. I knew a thing or two about prophecies, but as a writer of fiction, I knew that there was no way even the Fates could devise a way to tear these two apart. They hadn't survived so much just to get killed now. Percy fell into Tartarus to be with her. Meanwhile, I fell into Tartarus not  _with_  Veon, but to make sure he didn't have to. I wished that I could talk to him. He'd yell at me, then he'd probably hug me to death. I wasn't one for hugs, I knew that no matter how relieved I was, it'd still feel awkward, but I wanted his hug right now. I wanted so many people that I loved to hug me. My mother and father, Veon, Kaze, even my friends.

But I was destined to be alone. That's what my life has taught me. I've learned that the only way to go forward is to accept it quickly and move on.

"Things could be worse," Annabeth ventured.

"Yeah?" Percy asked.

I could imagine  _many_  ways this could be worse, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. I had a habit of darkening the mood when I got rolling and had to learn self-control over the years. She snuggled up against him, and when he closed his eyes, Percy could almost imagine they were at the campfire at Camp Half-Blood.

"We could've fallen into the River Lethe," Annabeth said. "Lost all our memories."

I scoffed. Like Percy needed any more trouble with amnesia. On top of Hera's little plan a month ago, Percy had once fought a Titan on the banks of the Lethe, near Hades's palace. He'd blasted the Titan with water from that river and completely wiped his memory clean. I heard Veon had run into that Titan, working as a janitor at the palace.

"Yeah, the Lethe," Percy muttered. "Not my favorite."

"What was the Titan's name?" Annabeth asked.

"Uh…Iapetus. He said it meant 'the Impaler' or something."

"No, the name you gave him after he lost his memory. Steve?"

"Bob," I remembered. "Simple name for a Titan. Veon once said he'd run into him. Thought it was weird. Didn't know the story until I explained."

My migraine seemed to increase at the memory, and I took a sip of the firewater to try and get it to dull. It felt like I was having a brain-freeze, and the fire of the river was at least warming it up a bit.

Annabeth managed a weak laugh. "Bob the Titan."

I wondered if Bob would remain a friendly, happy, clueless Titan forever. The Underworld seemed to bring out the worst in everyone - monsters, heroes, and gods. I gazed across the ashen plains. The other Titans were supposed to be here in Tartarus - maybe bound in chains, or roaming aimlessly, or hiding in some of those dark crevices. We had destroyed the worst Titan, Kronos (even if Percy and the others of Camp Half-Blood didn't notice - or remember, thanks to Zyanya - me slipping in among the crowds), but even  _his_ remains might be down here somewhere - a billion angry Titan particles floating through the blood-colored clouds or lurking in that dark fog.

Percy kissed Annabeth's forehead. "We should keep moving. You want some more fire to drink?"

"Ugh. I'll pass."

The two of them struggled to their feet, and I led the charge down the cliffside again. I realized I had a sudden hunger for some nachos. I wondered if the firewater would be able to keep them from dying of starvation. I remembered Tantalus, who'd been permanently stuck in a pool of water under a fruit tree but couldn't reach either the food or drink. Personally, I'd just close my eyes, but I guess that wouldn't work for eternity. Hadn't Tantalus been paroled briefly to serve as director at Camp Half-Blood once? That had to suck. It was like that time that someone had given Tantalus some food and water, which had just made his starvation worse because he knew what he was missing. Getting freedom just to be tossed back into your prison when you were done. Couldn't help but feel a bit bad for the guy.

Not to mention Percy's famish screaming at me and my medic abilities.

" _Keep going,_ " He told himself.

" _Cheeseburgers,_ " His stomach replied.

" _Shut up,_ " He thought.

" _With fries,_ " His stomach complained.

When we finally reached the bottom, Percy and Annabeth collapsed on the ground. Ahead of us stretched miles of wasteland, bubbling with monstrous larvae and big insect-hair trees. To the right, the Phlegethon split into branches that etched the plain, widening into a delta of smoke and fire. To the north, along the main route of the river, the ground was riddled with cave entrances, and here and there, spires of rock jutted up like exclamation points.

I pressed my foot against the ground, feeling something off about it, before I reached down and felt the soil was alarmingly warm and smooth. I tried to grab a handful, then realized that under a thin layer of dirt and debris, the ground was a single vast membrane, like skin. I had faced many situations involving pranks where my 'friends' tried to get a reaction out of me with something disgusting, and so I handled it well, but Percy realized the same thing and looked ready to throw up if he had anything more than fire in his stomach.

I started to feel like something was watching us - something vast and malevolent. In the end, I was going right where Tartarus wanted me to. But we needed to get to the Doors of Death. Either way, a confrontation with Tartarus in *cough* Tartarus was inevitable. The presence was all around us, although  _watching_  was the wrong word, as that involved eyes, and this thing was simply aware of us. The ridges above now looked less like steps and more like rows of massive teeth. The spires of rock looked like broken ribs, and if the ground was skin…

"Great," I muttered again.

I had a feeling that would be my new catchphrase while in Tartarus.

Annabeth stood, wiping soot from her face. She gazed toward the darkness on the horizon. "We're going to be completely exposed, crossing this plain."

I had already guessed this before, but this was the only way forward. Normally, when faced with a large open field that you must get across, I would've just walked around it, no matter how big. But there was no walking around this place. The only thing that came to mind was making sure that we stayed out of sight and didn't draw attention to ourselves. If we went slowly enough, maybe tried to cover ourselves in some dirt-

About a hundred yards ahead of us, a blister burst on the ground. A monsters clawed its way out, a glistening telkhines with slick fur, a seal-like body, and stunted human limbs. It managed to crawl a few yards…before something shot out of the nearest cave, so fast that I could only register a dark green reptilian head. The monster snatched up the squealing telkhines in its jaws and dragged it into the darkness.

"Well then," I muttered. "Avoid the caves, then."

Reborn in Tartarus for two seconds, only to be eaten. I wondered if that telkhines would pop up some other place in Tartarus, and how long it would take to reform. This was the whole 'What happens if you kill a monster in the place where monsters go to die?' from Supernatural all over again.

"Oh yeah," Percy murmured. "This'll be fun."

I looked back at the cliffs, but there was no going back. I wished my powers would hurry up and recover, but this place was like Pandaemonium from Final Fantasy Type-0. Your health recovered everywhere else, but suddenly dying became permanent once you were there (because Phoenix Downs were worthless in reviving you in that game). If anyone else were here and their powers were working, we'd have such an easier time. Frank could turn into an eagle or a dragon to fly us across this stupid wasteland, Veon could shadow-travel us, Kaze could probably speed each of us across, or at the very least be prepared for when monsters suddenly ambush us.

We started walking, trying to avoid cave entrances, and I kept on guard to whack any monster that formed near us. I knew that there was something that was still nagging at the back of my consciousness, a problem that I had bookmarked, and though I knew it was there, I couldn't remember what it was. It bugged the hell out of me, but maybe that was just my migraine returning as the effects of the river seemed to be wearing off faster. Stupid thing.

My entire head stung from behind my eyes, so hot that it was cold, or so cold that it was hot. Either way, I was now beginning to see spots, and I wanted to go back to the river to get more firewater, but we were too far to turn back down. I knew that it was cold, then, because of the effects of the Phlegethon being productive. Order had told me that she had been the one to make that river for kicks to see souls suffer for longer, so in a way, I guess she was  _still_  helping me. I still relied on her. I always felt that I was strong, but could I never do  _anything_  without help?

We were just skirting one of the spires when a glint of movement caught my eye (or that could've just been the spots dancing across my vision). That mental note that had been bothering me was now screaming at my face, but it took an extra moment for me to process what it was. I remembered the reason we'd started following this route in the first place.

They weren't attacking, I realized. They planned to play with us like we had with them, following them and just barely staying out of sight. If we kept walking, we'd be able to make it pretty far. If we pretended to ignore them, we could buy ourselves time.

But then, Percy froze in his tracks and ruined it all. "The empousai." He grabbed Annabeth's arm. "Where are they?"

The empousai were nowhere in sight, and they should've been ahead of us. It was possible they'd been attacked by one of the reptiles in the caves. Even if only one of them had been snatched, the others would've made a run for it or scattered away. But I knew that wasn't the case.

I already had my bow drawn and was on guard the moment I realized Percy's mistake, but he himself drew his sword too late. The empousai emerged from the rocks all around us - five of them forming a ring. A perfect trap. They had waited until we were out in the open, rather than cornering us against the cliff. In that situation, we would've been able to protect ourselves for at least the 180 degrees behind us, Percy and I would've been able to take up defensive positions for only 90 degrees each. Now, we were surrounded all around, each of us having to take 180 degrees each because Annabeth didn't have a weapon, and we had a shaky way of protecting her too compared to putting her between us and the cliff for protection.

Kelli limped forward on her mismatched legs. Her fiery hair burned across her shoulders like a miniature Phlegethon waterfall. Her tattered cheerleader outfit was splattered with rusty-brown stains, and I was pretty sure they weren't ketchup.

Kelli fixed her glowing red eyes on Percy and barred her fangs. "Percy Jackson," She cooed. "How awesome! I don't even have to return to the mortal world to destroy you!"


	10. Waiting For the Deus ex Machina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Response to a comment on Fanfic that was necessary to put in here:
> 
> Sunset: For your first comment, thank you. I try to put humor in my author's notes. And if you've read the chapters carefully, I've already hinted something that could counter or support your hypothesis (trying not to give it away, but read chapter 5 again, maybe chapter 3 if you need it).
> 
> As for your second review, I've got plans for the Kako, don't worry. I've already addressed that Ithuriel is an angel from Cassandra Clare's famous series. You'll figure out who he is, but he's not an angel in this story. Just a guy named after one. For reasons.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> :)

First Person: Lucy

I recalled a certain story about how dangerous Kelli had been the last time Percy had fought her in the Labyrinth. Despite those mismatched legs, she could move fast when she wanted to. She'd dodged his sword strikes and would have eaten his face if Annabeth hadn't stabbed her from behind.

Now she had four friends with her.

I knew how to fight empousai, and with my weapon double-bladed (so to speak), I could strike at everything in front of me with enough speed to hit them, but Percy couldn't even take on Kelli alone, let alone half of these vamps at best. I knew these weren't even considered the worst of creatures in Tartarus, so no use wasting my bullets. Besides, those were for long range, and these girls would be fighting close quarters.

"And your friend Annabeth is with you!" Kelli hissed with laughter. "Oh yeah, I totally remember her."

Kelli touched her own sternum, where the top of the knife had exited when Annabeth stabbed her in the back.

"What's the matter, daughter of Athena? Don't have your weapon? Bummer. I'd use it to kill you."

"Big talk for a donkey," I said. "Then again, your speech is about as half-assed as the rest of you."

Kelli turned her attention towards me, although I could only see about 50% of her through the spots dancing across my vision. My entire head was spinning and stinging, and it was hard to stay focused. It took concentration just to keep myself from losing stability or giving away how dizzy I was. Let's be honest though. With that outfit, seeing only 50% of her was an improvement.

"And who's your new friend? Clearly not another spawn of the wisdom goddess. Ares, maybe, with their brute force and ignorance."

"I'm mostly known for being a granddaughter of Zeus and Apollo - okay, that can be taken the wrong way out of context - but I am the daughter of Zenobia. I've fought many of your kind before, and I am to escort these two safely through Tartarus."

She smirked. "Well, great job so far."

Percy and Annabeth were clearly panicking. Neither of them were in good shape for a battle, my head was still killing me and only seemed to be getting worse, Annabeth was empty-handed, we were surrounded and outnumbered with no place to run and no help coming.

At best we could try calling for Mrs. O'Leary, the shadow-traveling hellhound. Even if she heard, would she be able to make it to Tartarus? This was where monsters went when they died. Calling her here might kill her, or turn her back to her natural state as a fierce monster. I had a certain hatred for hellhounds, as they had been the ones to kill my father, but in the end, they weren't all bad, and some even followed Hades' and Veon's command. Mrs. O'Leary didn't need to take that risk for us.

That left the all-important technique and Annabeth's favorite tactics: trickery, talk, delay your doom for as long as possible and hope for Deus ex Machina.

"So…" Percy started. "I guess you're wondering what we're doing in Tartarus."

Kelli snickered. "Not really. I just want to kill you."

"Too bad," Annabeth said. "Because you have no idea what's going on in the mortal world."

The other empousai circled, watching Kelli for a cue to attack: but the ex-cheerleader only snarled, crouching out of reach of Percy's sword and even my bow. I tried to use my ears to focus on the footsteps, trying to be alert for when any of them moved, but each of their footsteps sounded like a drum pounding through my skull.

"We know enough," Kelli said. "Gaea has spoken."

"You're heading towards a major defeat." Annabeth sounded so confident that maybe I was just having lowered standards from my headaches, but I was actually impressed. She glanced at the other empousai, one by one, then pointed accusingly at Kelli. "This one claims she's leading you to a victory. She's lying. The last time she was in the mortal world, Kelli was in charge of keeping my friend Luke Castellan faithful to Kronos. In the end, Luke rejected him. He gave his life to expel Kronos. The Titans lost because Kelli  _failed_. Now Kelli wants to lead you to another disaster."

The other empousai muttered and shifted uneasily.

"Enough!"

Kelli's fingernails grew into long black talons. She glared at Annabeth as if imagining her sliced into small pieces. It seemed as though Kelli seemed to have had a thing for Luke Castellan. Luke was described as the kind of guy that had that effect on girls - even donkey-legged vampires - and I wasn't sure bringing up his name was a good idea. From everything that I'd heard of Luke, the only reason I'd really want to meet him was to take up that challenge. The more handsome they are, the more I want to punch them in the face (did I just insult Veon there?). I guess it bought us more time, even if it was just to provoke them into making our deaths even worse. Or maybe it would make it quicker because they'd rip us apart so fast.

"The girl lies," Kelli said. "So the Titans lost. Fine! That was part of the plan to wake Gaea! Now the Earth Mother and her giants will destroy the mortal world, and we will  _totally_  feast on demigods!"

The other vampires gnashed their teeth in a frenzy of excitement. I had been in the middle of a school of sharks when the water was full of blood with my feet chained to an anchor (do  _not_  ask). I'd say this was mildly equivalent in fear levels, and that was just because my head was pounding so much that I couldn't come up with a plan, and I  _hated_  being without plans.

"Well, you're gonna run out of them pretty quickly at that rate," I muttered. "You people realize you're not the only guys that Gaea's promised will destroy demigods and humanity, right? Monsters these days…"

"The demigods have united!" Annabeth yelled. "You'd better think twice before you attack us. Romans and Greeks will fight you together. You don't stand a chance!"

The empousai backed up nervously, hissing, "Romani…"

I had a feeling they'd had experience with Rome before, and it hadn't worked out well for them.

"Yeah, you bet Romani," Percy declared, baring his forearm and showing them the brand he'd gotten at Camp Jupiter - the SPQR mark with the trident of Neptune. "You mix Greek and Roman, and you know what you get? You get  _BAM!_ "

" _You get bam alright,_ " I thought to myself.

Except I didn't think it myself. I barely had the ability to keep conscious at this point, and my thoughts couldn't form words anymore. But that was my voice, ringing out throughout my head's pounding, almost coming  _from_  the tremors surging through me.

" _My dear, do you know how rare you are?_ "

Percy stomped his foot, and the empousai scrambled back. One fell off the boulder where she'd been perched. That made me feel a bit better, but they recovered quickly and close in again.

" _Grab me, now!_ "

My hand crept to Veon's lance on my belt. Great, now the lance was becoming psychic and was telling me to grab it. I must've been going insane. Then again, I've been insane before. It was a lot more fun back then.

"Bold talk," Kelli said. "For three demigods lost in Tartarus, that is. Lower your sword, Percy Jackson, call your body-guard off, and I'll kill you quickly. Believe me, there are worse ways to die down here."

"You'll have to tear me to shred first," I said.

"Oh, I'd be happy to oblige!"

I chuckled. "I wish you luck. I have Tartarus on my side!"

I pulled out the lance and stabbed it into the ground in front of me. At first, nothing happened, and I began to panic, but energy began to gather around us and the ground shook. A moment later, the energy popped around us like a bubble, knocking a few of the empousai back in the shockwave.

" _Empousai, servants of Hecate. I wonder. Do they know of Hecate's alliance with the demigods?_ "

Well, it wasn't me, but the voice seemed to know what it was doing, and as it talked, my head seemed to become clear, or at the very least, it became numb. Everything was getting a bit far away, like looking through a pair of binoculars backwards, and my voice rang through me kind of far away, a bit deeper, but then again, not really an abnormal deepness. The vibrations were nice, like being a passenger in a car driving smoothly down the road.

"She has a cabin at Camp Half-Blood," Annabeth agreed quickly. "Some of her demigod children are my friends. If you fight us, she'll be angry."

One of the other empousai growled. "Is this true, Kelli? Has our mistress made peace with Olympus?"

"Shut up, Serephone!" Kelli screeched. " _Gods_ , you're annoying."

I waved my hand in front of me, and the air where I swiped shimmered to reveal an image of a beautiful young woman in a dark, silky, sleeveless gown, her golden hair gathered into a high-set ponytail - Ancient Greek style. She had deathly pale skin with solid black eyes, and she almost seemed to be flickering out when she shifted even just slightly. The empousai all hissed and retreated at her image, especially as she spoke, her voice just slightly scratchy since it was a recording.

" _But I have learned, as you demigods must as well, that leadership will never be perfect. When put beside each other, the Olympians prove to be an annoyance, but certainly better than the Titans, or worse, Gaea. I believe the saying is, 'Pick your poison.' I have made peace again with Olympus. Even now, when they are laid low - their Greek and Roman personas fighting each other - I will help them. Greek or Roman, I have always been only Hecate. I will assist you against the giants, if you prove yourself worthy._ "

The image faded, and the empousa that had spoken out against Kelli, Serephone, turned to her accusingly. "I will not cross the Dark Lady," She declared, and the other empousai seemed to murmur in agreement.

Annabeth took the opening, the hope rising in her voice. "You'd all be better following Serephone! She's older and wiser."

"Yes!" Serephone shrieked. "Follow me!"

Kelli struck fast, and my muscles tensed at the slightest hint of movement, but whatever possessed me held my back. Kelli wasn't going for me, or even Percy/Annabeth. Kelli lashed out at Serephone. For half a second, the two demons were a blur of slashing claws and fangs, and I followed them like those guys in Dragon Ball whenever people fought beyond the speed humans could keep track of. Then, it was over. Kelli struck significantly faster and harsher as she attacked in her rage, and so it was little surprise when Kelli stood triumphant over a pile of dust in moments by real-time standards. From her claws hung the tattered remains of Serephone's dress.

"And more  _issues?_ " Kelli snapped at her sisters, who looked around at each other hesitantly. "Hecate is the goddess of the Mist! Her ways are mysterious. Who knows which side she truly favors? She is also the goddess of the crossroads, and she expects us to make our own choices. I choose the path that will bring us the most demigod blood! I choose Gaea!"

Her friends hissed in approval. Annabeth and Percy shared looks. They were out of ideas. They'd gotten Kelli to eliminate one of her own. Now there was nothing left to do but to fight.

"For two years I churned in the void," Kelli said. "Do you know how completely  _annoying_  it is to be vaporized, Annabeth Chase? Slowly re-forming, fully conscious, in searing pain for months and years as your body regrows, then finally breaking the crust of this hellish place and clawing your way back to daylight? All because some  _little girl_  stabbed you in the back?" Her baleful eyes held Annabeth's. "I wonder what happens if a demigod is killed in Tartarus. I doubt it's ever happened before. Let's find out."

" _Well, it was your fault for getting yourself into demigod affairs,_ " I said. " _You stuck to humans, you might not have gone through that. Then again, if you did_ anything _to draw attention to yourself, you were asking to get killed. I hope you've learned to endure reformation, my dear. I shall make sure that this time, you are trapped in that pain for millennia. My special treat. Only gods and the extremely powerful get to have that long in the darkness of the void, the more power, the longer to recreate._ "

Percy sprang in one direction, my body took me in another. Percy and I slashed our weapons in a huge arc, my bow in my left hand, Veon's lance in my right, swinging outwards in a semi-circle with blades of energy arcing out from my weapons. Percy cut one of the demons in half while I took out another, clipping two others as they used their speed to dive out of the way. Kelli dodged and charged Annabeth, the two empousai that I'd barely missed killing launching themselves at Percy, each grabbing an arm.

"Another step and he's dead!" One shouted, the desperation in her voice evident.

Annabeth tumbled to one side, evading Kelli's claws and coming up with a rock in her hand, which she smacked into Kelli's nose.

" _Cover your eyes,_ " I ordered, before kicking the ground hard.

Percy and Annabeth had just enough time to process the order before a wave of dirt and debris from the ground washed over the whole lot of them, the empousai shouting in pain. Percy thrashed from side to side and tried to throw off the empousai, but the vamps only gripped him tighter, their claws digging into his arms and shoulders. Kelli lunged at Annabeth, her vision impaired but her rage clearing things up enough for her to locate the blurry blob that was the target. She raked her talons across Annabeth's arm despite her attempts at dodging and taking advantage of Kelli's blindness, causing Annabeth to scream and fall.

One of the vamps holding Percy sank her teeth into his neck and his knees buckled as searing pain coursed through his body. The other bit into his sword arm, and Riptide clattered to the ground. I kicked the one on Percy's sword arm in her distraction away with the sound of a skull cracking accompanying a screech, before I took the other empousa and gripped her head and jaw, pulling her off of Percy without causing her sharp teeth to dig into his neck even more, knowing that it would be disastrous if even  _more_  damage was done. I nocked an arrow and aimed, shooting Kelli in the eye as she loomed over Annabeth, savoring her moment of triumph.

My vision started to become blurry again, and this time it was more like a recording going static and fuzzy. I looked down at my arm to see that it had darkened to a pretty unhealthy shade of  _blue_  (ugh, nightmares from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory returning to me - you know, the one with Johnny Depp and the girl Violet with that gum? *Shudders* That movie haunted me for  _days_ , and I had been through much worse by the time I watched it). Luckily things  _were_  different from that as ice crystals were beginning to form across my skin (was 'lucky' really the right word?)

I looked up again, my consciousness returning and my ability to feel the cold seeping in slowly creeping through me once more. I could feel the sting of frostbite increasing across my whole body, I couldn't breathe, and I could barely see as my vision blurred further in and out of focus. I think I fell to my knees, or maybe I just plain collapsed on the ground completely. I was freezing alive from the inside out.

Just past Kelli, who ripped the arrow out of her eye with a scream of both pain and rage before turning to me, I thought I saw myself, smiling at me behind the vampire with a coy look. She winked at me and then put her finger to her lips in a shushing motion.

Then, she took a deep breath.

" _BOB!_ "

The sound of her scream shook the earth, and it took me a moment to realize that the sound wasn't coming from nowhere - it was coming from my own mouth. A shadow fell across the fighting ground, my own scream faded to be replaced by a deep war cry bellowing from somewhere above, echoing across the plains of Tartarus. And then a Titan dropped onto the battlefield.

I thought I was hallucinating.

A huge, silvery figure dropped out of the sky and stomped Kelli flat, trampling her into a mound of monster dust. The Titan was ten feet tall, with wild silver Einstein hair, pure silver eyes, and muscular arms protruding from a ripped-up blue janitor's uniform. In his hand was a massive push broom, and his name tag read BOB.

Annabeth yelped and tried to crawl away, but the giant janitor wasn't interested in her. He turned to the two empousai who had approached Percy once more now that I was disabled. One was foolish enough to attack - not the one who had come up with the plan to hold Percy hostage, so I guess she was the dumb one. A spearhead jutted from the end of Bob's broom. With a single deadly swipe, he cut her to dust. The last vampire tried to run, but Bob threw his broom like a massive boomerang (was there such a thing as a 'broomerang?' I bet Audrey would love to claim the rights to coming up with that name), and it sliced through the vampire and returned to Bob's hand.

"SWEEP!" The Titan grinned with delight and did a victory dance worthy of Final Fantasy. "Sweep, sweep, sweep!"

Percy and Annabeth looked stunned. "H…How…?" Annabeth stammered.

"Cee-Cee called me!" The janitor said happily. "Yes, she did."

Annabeth crawled a little further away, her arm bleeding badly. "Called you? Wait…you're Bob?  _The_  Bob?"

The janitor frowned when he noticed Annabeth's wounds. "Owie."

Annabeth flinched as he knelt next to her.

"It's okay," Percy said, still woozy with pain. "He's friendly."

I remembered when I'd first met Bob. I was going on one of my visits to Veon during the months we'd been building the Argo II when I'd noticed the Titan in the halls of the palace. I remembered the tale of the memory-erased Titan and kinda felt bad for him. I struck up a conversation with him, and he turned out to be a sweetheart, like a little child but with the strength of a Titan. I'd heard that Veon often talked to him as well, even Nico, and Bob said he enjoyed having friends to talk to. He speculated that he would have tons of friends at that rate, and though I doubted it, I was happy the Titan believed so. Because Bob didn't interact with a lot of people, I introduced myself as Lucy and told him all my nicknames. He liked Cee-Cee, and it stuck.

The Titan could heal bad wounds just by touching them, and sure enough, the janitor tapped Annabeth's forearm and it mended instantly. Bob chuckled, pleased with himself, then bounded over to Percy and healed his bleeding neck and arm. The Titan giggled again, this time heading over to me and putting his hand on my chest.

This time, the Titan frowned. "Weird owie."

I suddenly felt like a weight had been lifted off of my torso, and warmth spread over me again and the color returning to my body. I gasped for breath, the pain of the cold receding to be replaced by a wooziness, the warmth that replaced the icy feeling making me tired.

"Better," The Titan said, as though he was critiquing my outfit. "I am Bob, Cee-Cee's friend! Percy's friend!"

"Uh…yeah," Percy managed. "Thanks for the help, Bob. It's  _really_  good to see you again."

"Yes!" The janitor agreed. "Bob. That's me. Bob, Bob, Bob." He shuffled around, obviously pleased with his name, and I smiled at his excitement like a proud parent. "I am helping. I heard my name. Upstairs in Hades's palace, nobody calls for Bob unless there is a mess. Bob, sweep up these bones. Bob, mop up these tortured souls. Bob, a zombie exploded in the dining room. Bob, please help me with this dude who keeps yelling."

Annabeth gave Percy a puzzled look, but he didn't seem to have an explanation.

"Then I heard my friends call!" The Titan beamed. "Cee-Cee and Percy said  _Bob!_  Cee-Cee is loud."

I chuckled. "Sorry if I screamed a little too loud, big guy."

He grabbed Percy's arm and hoisted him to his feet.

"That's awesome," Percy said. "Seriously, but how did you-?"

"Oh, time to talk later." Bob's expression turned serious. "We must go before they find you. They are coming. Yes, indeed."

" _They?_ " Annabeth asked.

Percy scanned the horizon, but he saw no approaching monsters - nothing but the stark gray wasteland.

"Yes," Bob agreed. "But Bob knows a way. Come on, friends! We will have fun!"

The Titan, surprisingly gentle for such a large and strong creature, lifted me up onto his shoulder and began to lead Percy and Annabeth away as I passed out from exhaustion.


	11. Talk With Chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, these next two chapters are literally just me nerding over songs that I like. When they get stuck in my head, they get stuck in my work. Just reading the lyrics is never enough if you don't know the songs, so seriously, look them up if you have, like, ten minutes to spare.

First Person: Lucy

"Lu? You and Ve up yet, or do we have to drag you out of bed kicking and screaming?" Someone shouted.

"More like drag them out of bed while they try to remain asleep and end up making us drag dead weight," A second person corrected.

I didn't want to get up, and hoped that maybe if I ignored the voices then they'd go away. I heard the sound of a sigh, a lock clicking, and a door opening. There was a bit of shuffling, and I began to relax thinking the voices were leaving me be.

"Lucy~! Veon~!"

I groaned and reached for my pillow to cover my ears, but quickly realized that I didn't have a pillow. Or a blanket for that matter. I wasn't even in my bed. Maybe that's why I was slightly cold. But the floor was comfy enough. I should go get a blanket at least. But I didn't want to get up either. The struggle was real.

I suddenly felt a shaking, which disturbed my inner argument to go back to sleep. "Lu? Lucy, wake up."

I slapped away the person. "What?" I demanded, but it was too late to fall back asleep.

"Why are you sleeping on the floor?" Audrey sighed.

"I'll have you know the floor is a very comfortable place," I said quickly, forcing myself to sit up.

"Yeah, but you look like someone broke in and attacked you. Then again, I have a feeling that if someone broke in and attacked you, you'd have burnt them to a crisp, but metaphorically speaking. What are you doing there?"

I held up a finger to respond, before I realized that I didn't know. Why  _was_  I lying on the floor? I'm sure there was a reason. I looked down and noticed a frame with the picture taken out lying beside me on the floor. Wasn't that the picture I'd taken back at Camp Half-Blood with my family? The one with the godly photobomb? Ithuriel! That was the one. There was something that I was missing though. I think there was something about Ithuriel that I was curious about. But I didn't know anything.

That was it! I didn't know anything! I didn't know who he was! I was in the dream world again! Audrey and Emily were here too. They couldn't be real, just like this entire world. I decided to play it safe until I found out more.

"I'm not sure. Must've passed out. What are you doing here?"

"We came to remind you guys that your gig is in an hour, and I just  _knew_  that you - or at least Ve - would be sleeping 'till three and would risk missing it."

"Gig?" I asked.

I don't have  _gigs_. As in, musical gigs. I probably have some gigs on my computer. That would've been a nice joke. I should've said that aloud. Dang it, it was too late. Audrey was already moving on! Missed opportunity, man.

Audrey rolled her eyes. "What? Don't tell me  _you_  forgot. You  _never_  forget stuff like this. You practically set five alarms, get everything ready ten days in advance, and quattuorvigintuple check everything per day in between."

"First off, I prefer to say I tredecuple check. But I'm…just having an off day. I'll wake Veon."

I went into the bedroom, hoping to find out more from Veon. If he was a part of this world too, then he should be able to fit in with this situation better than I could, trying to play it off.

"Ve," I whispered as I shook him away. "Ve! Get up!"

"Golden rule!" He grumbled. "Talked about this earlier."

I remembered that he was just as stubborn as I was when it came to waking up, and so I resorted to the old-fashioned technique that I used on him constantly. I shoved him off the bed, sheets that he was burrito-ed up in and all. Luckily, he knew not to ever do this to me - not only because I would murder him on the spot, but because modern society has shown that a girl pushing a guy around in a friendly way was okay, but a guy pushing a girl around in a friendly was could easily be mistaken as abuse. I was a girl and even  _I_ thought that was sexist. Guys can be victims too, ya know. Except for Veon. He was tough enough to handle a tumble or ten…per week.

"Get up. Audrey and Emily are here," I said from the bed, leaning down to poke where his face was under the blankets.

After much poking, prodding, threatening, pillow whacking, and rambling right in Veon's ear, he finally grumbled and got up. "If I make them go away and leave us alone, will you let  _me_  sleep in peace?"

Aw, he was adorable with bed hair, grumbling about getting up. Weird. Had I ever really taken the time to think about that before? It was odd. Veon didn't look any different than he normally did - a teenage boy who didn't try too hard to look good but he still looked better than 80% of all the guys that I'd ever seen  _because_  he wasn't trying. Did I ever realize how much I liked his face better than anyone else's? Did I ever realize how giddy and happy I felt inside just talking to him, being in his presence? I pushed emotions down, ignored them, and Zyanya had suppressed them for the years we were together.

I'd never had the time to just admire him without suppressing my feelings. Now that I was here, maybe the happiness of this place was changing me. Maybe it was because I'd lost Order. Maybe it was a combination of the two. I suddenly saw him in a new light, like opening a story to the middle of a relationship and seeing how happy the people were. It was like I had just woken up to realize how lucky I was, how much I wanted to embrace this life, and to never let it go. I think a part of me was more willing to accept this Veon because I  _knew_  he wasn't real and that if I messed something up or did something embarrassing, it didn't feel as scary.

I knew it wasn't real, but I liked it. I felt the strong urge to go along with it, play around with this world while I could.

"Sure," I agreed. "Scout's honor. Promise on the River Styx."

He sighed and rose from his makeshift sleeping bag and headed to the door. "What's up?" He asked, rubbing his eye and yawning.

"Uh, very important gig at the coffee shop?" Audrey relayed. "Come on, you two! You two have been all over this thing for ages! What is up with you guys today?"

"Gig?" Veon muttered, before snapping to attention. "Gig! Ah! Give me five minutes!"

He ran back into the bedroom and into the closet to change.

"Gig at the coffee shop?" I muttered worriedly. "What kind of gig?"

"The gig of the music variety?" Audrey suggested. "You know, with instruments and singing? You guys have been doing this for ages. Come on. I'll get the guitar and mics, and Emily can get the keyboard."

Audrey walked over to the kitchen area where the instruments were stored and ready to go, grabbing a guitar case (presumably with a guitar inside) and a box with the microphones inside. Emily went over and picked up the keyboard, and they headed to the door, Audrey setting the mics down for a moment to open it.

"We'll put them in the car," Audrey called. "Be ready by the time we get back, please."

I went to the bedroom and the closet, where Veon was as he struggled to pull on his black shirt at top speed. I instinctively knew that we took turns when getting ready, and since he had made it to the closet first, I had to do my bathroom routine first. I brushed my teeth and hair, washed my face, and…dried it, I guess. I didn't have much to do after that.

When Veon came out, we switched, and I changed into my jeans, T-shirt, and boots. Veon and I both had similar jackets, both army green, but we didn't often hang them up at the front door. We liked having our jackets in our bedroom or closet, but they could end up anywhere in the apartment depending on our days and where we dropped them.

I again found myself liking the system that Veon and I had made, living together. We had an  _apartment_. Sure it was Zyanya that got me the apartment and I was just sharing, but we had decorated, we'd moved in  _together_ , we had a routine of silent agreement between us. I liked it. Hell, I  _loved_  it.

Veon didn't have much more than I did in the bathroom, but he was looking around frantically for his jacket. "I do not go  _anywhere_  without it, you know that!"

I walked out to the main area, heading over to the window that was beside the cabinets of the kitchen. Did we have a musical gig where we had to sing songs  _we_  created? I could rhyme when I was loopy from my overuse of power, I could write stories, and a little poetry, but I had tried writing songs, and that seemed to be the one thing that Apollo's blood had denied me. At the very least, I was far too shy and introverted to sing anything I'd composed myself. I could be brave on a battlefield, I could sing songs composed by other people, but my  _own_  songs? I could get it over with in a school assignment, but on a stage? If Audrey and Emily were here, they were going to watch! I could perform in front of strangers because I most likely wouldn't see them again and had no personal connection to them, but with people I know?

"Come on," Audrey said, putting a hand on my shoulder, startling me out of my thoughts.

I turned my head and mustered a smile, nodding. "Right."

Veon rushed out of the bedroom, finally having remembered where his jacket was and snatching it as he sprinted for the door. "I'm ready! Let's move it, people!"

He rushed out dramatically, and the three of us laughed. He really  _was_  adorable, trying to be purposefully funny.

Suddenly, the scene shifted, I found myself somewhere new, hooking instruments and mics up to speakers. I panicked. I was going to perform soon, wasn't I? What were we even singing?!

I spotted Veon testing out the keyboard, gently tapping the keys with the volume down, but instead of a regular piano, it came out with an electric sound. He began to play the intro of a song, and I tried to remember where it came from. Wow, he was able to mimic an actual song, even quickly pressing a button to change the keyboard to another instrument without breaking stride. Playing a piano itself was pretty hard, but learning to play a myriad of instruments all on an electric keyboard instead of the actual instruments as well as switching to perfectly mimic a song…that was amazing. Especially considering he didn't have any instrumental celestial blood within him.

"Hey, Ve."

The notes he was playing came to a stop, and it was almost disappointing as the song stopped halfway through the chorus. "Hey. All set up?"

"Uh…close. But…I need a recap. What are the order of the songs?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes in an enduring way. Audrey said I had been super prepared for this, and if I was doing this in real life, I knew that was how I would really be. I must've bugged Veon about this a lot.

"Okay, we start with ' _Say Something,_ ' AB/DD, you do ' _Deep End,_ ' Ruelle, I do ' _I'll Follow You Into the Dark,_ ' Death Cab For Cutie, and we both end with ' _Nothing Left to Say Now,_ ' Imagine Dragons."

Songs that we didn't write! Yes! The first ' _Say Something_ ' that came to mind was that one by A Great Big World, but when he said AB/DD, I knew he meant the one by Anna Blue and Damien Dawn. Other than that, I knew all of the songs he was talking about by heart, but I didn't know how we had decided to break up ' _Nothing Left to Say Now._ ' In rehearsal, all kinds of crazy things could happen depending on the people, and I knew that we would mix it up to make it sound good. I hadn't actually gone through this with Veon! I didn't know who was taking the melody and who was singing backup, and there would most likely be times when we switched those roles to keep things even between us, since it was a duet. What was I supposed to do?

"Hey, it's gonna be fine," He said, misinterpreting my nervousness. "You're gonna do great. If you want, I can do my song before you do yours."

"No, no. I'll do  _Deep End_  first."

He chuckled. "Still the 'Get it over with' kinda person. And your family? They love you. If you mess up, it's not like they're gonna think any less of you. This is the first time your parents are actually gonna hear you sing. You're amazing, and if you sharp like there's no tomorrow and sing like a banshee, I'm sure they'd understand."

"Gee,  _thanks!_ "

He laughed, and I couldn't prevent the corners of my mouth from rising as well. Then, I processed what he'd said. My parents? My adoptive parents were human, and they wouldn't be brought into the demigod camps without really good reason.

There was a small jingle of the door opening, and though it had been happening for a while now as people went in and out, I was suddenly drawn to it. I saw Kaze walking in, with Tsuchi by his side. Kandai came in after her, and then next came…Ithuriel.

The white-haired man was talking with Kandai, before he looked up and saw me on the stage and froze. He recognized me. He saw me. Did he know that I didn't belong here? Who was he, anyway? I needed to know. I felt familiarity, I felt an overwhelming desire to talk with him, to hug him, maybe even stronger than the urge to do the same to my dad. Tsuchi and Kandai were here. They were  _here_. I considered the possibility if this was a dream world with everything I wanted, but…

Then Ithuriel looked over to Emily. For a moment, his face remained in a similarly shocked state, before Emily popped up to her feet and hurried over to pull the group over to the tables that they'd saved for them. Ithuriel shook off his shock and put on a smile again I hopped off the stage and walked over to greet them, eager to talk to them and get some answers.

"H-Hi…"

Kandai, my dad, was the first to smile and respond. He was speaking in English, based on his accent. When I was given to my dad, he had a falling out with his grandmother about how he'd fallen for a god just like his mother and was left alone to raise a child. He'd told me that he'd always wanted to take my mom to Britain, but she left before he could. That's why I was raised in Britain for the first part of my life, learning English and Japanese at the same time. Not that it was a glorious process. My dad spoke to me with…well, if Spanglish (Spanish + English) was a thing, then I guess this was Japanglish? Englanese? Either way, even my own English had a hint of an accent, not that I realized it was an accent before.

"Hey, Flower," Dad said.

"Hi, Papa."

My accent naturally slipped in on 'Papa.' I hadn't called him that in a long time. I missed it.

" _I want nachos,_ " Tsuchi declared. " _Kaze, let's go get some food._ "

" _No stealing,_ " My dad said firmly.

Both mother and son stuck their tongues out at him, but walked off to their table and waved over a waiter. It was amusing to see Tsuchi and Kaze. Kaze seemed…different. In a good way. I hadn't heard much about Tsuchi, but it seemed she only spoke Japanese. She was described as more of a rebel, of course, but she also seemed like someone who didn't listen to anyone. Like mother like son? Then again, it also seemed like my dad was babysitting both of them like I had once done with Kaze. Like father like daughter too.

"Sorry we're late," Dad said. I internally giggled at referring to him as 'Dad.' Man, I  _was_  going crazy. "Glad to know we didn't miss the show."

"Lu!" Veon called, trying to wave me over.

"You should get going."

"We can talk after the show," Ithuriel promised.

I looked forward to it, but it seemed that Ithuriel was eager to talk as well. For better or worse, I would have the chance at getting my answers. After the show. Great, the show.

"Break a leg," Papa said.

"That'd be a terrible show!" Ithuriel exclaimed.

Dad laughed. "It's reverse psychology. Like, if you say 'Good luck,' that usually jinxes someone, and so people say 'Break a leg' instead so that it hopefully inspires the opposite effect."

"What's the opposite of breaking a leg? Growing another one?"

He laughed. "Don't know. But hey, it's traditional to say when someone's performing."

"Oh. Well, I hope you break your leg too. Did I do it right?"

Kan patted him on the shoulder. "Good enough, Urie."

I couldn't help but chuckle. I guess there were a lot of things that we didn't really think about. I took a deep breath and headed over to the stage again. It'd be over before I knew it. Songs always went quickly. Four whole songs. That's like the equivalent of what we had during a choir concert. And they were songs I was fond of. I just needed to sing like I always did and I'd be good.

Veon handed me my mic, tapping it and confirming that it was hooked up to the speaker. It wasn't a very fancy setup, but it was enough. We had a keyboard and a guitar, the mics as well as stands for them, adjustable for when we were standing or playing an instrument.

"Let's kill it," He said.

I nodded. "Yeah."

He walked up and put his mic in the stand before picking up the guitar. I wondered if we were supposed to make some kind of announcement, but that would be awkward. I'm pretty sure that everyone would be able to figure it out. Besides, when people performed in places like this, it was optional to listen or not, and people were free to talk among themselves even while we performed. It wasn't something formal like a concert.

I walked over to the keyboard, which was at the height that I could play it while standing, and put my mic in the stand already set up for me. Veon looked to me, and I remembered the beginning of ' _Say Something_ ' had an electric keyboard kind of sound at the beginning. I had to start. And I was the first one to sing, as well, in  _both_  verses, of course. I wasn't even sure if I could do the whole instrument switching technique. I didn't know this keyboard!

Well, nowhere to go but forward. I pressed my fingers to the keys and began to play, hoping that my fingers would take over for me. Luckily, I was able to play with an instinct and practiced skill that I didn't know that I had, and at the very least, my hands knew what they were doing, even if the rest of me was still nervous as hell.

Key:  
 _Lucy_  
 **Veon**  
 ** _Both_**  
Friends

" _Baby I'm so tired_ ,  
" _O-Oh_ ,  
" _Of you keepin' quiet_ ,  
" _O-O-Oh_.

" **I feel the anger cutting slowly through my heart** ,  
" **And it burns like fire** ,  
" **O-O-Oh**.

" ** _I can sense the violence_** ,  
" ** _Deep within your silence_** ,  
" ** _Couldn't we just go back to before?_**

" ** _You put this love in danger_** ,  
" ** _Treat me like a stranger_** ,  
" ** _Nothing like the one I used to know_**.

" ** _I wanna break the ice_** -"

I was surprised when our friends filled in as they shouted "Hey!" between our lines, providing backup that I found comforting.

" ** _But you keep acting cold_** -  
"Oh, oh,  
" ** _You gotta say something, say something_** ,  
" ** _Say something_**.

" ** _Can we make this right?_**  
"Hey!  
" ** _There's a million things untold,_**  
"Oh, oh,  
" ** _You gotta say something, say something,_**  
" ** _Say something_** ,  
" ** _Say something now_**."

I was surprised how easy it became once we got going. As we continued, I almost seemed to zone out through the verse. It was when we reached the end of the next chorus that I realized that the world was blurring. The moment I focused on it, it returned to normal, and I quickly hid my surprise and smiled again as we continued, but it was odd. The song was almost seeming to vibrate through the world. It must be the key to figuring out this fake world, I realized.

" ** _Tick tock, tick tock_** ,  
" ** _Soon it's gonna be too late_** ,  
" ** _Tick tock, tick tock_** ,  
" ** _So baby, don't you let me wait_**.

" ** _Tick tock, tick tock_** ,  
" ** _Everything could be alright_** ,  
" ** _Tick tock, tick tock_** ,  
" ** _But you're just letting time go by._** "

" ** _I wanna break the ice_** -  
"Hey!  
" ** _But you keep acting cold_** -  
"Oh, oh,  
" ** _You gotta say something, say something_** ,  
" ** _Say something_**.

" ** _Can we make this right?_**  
"Hey!  
" ** _There's a million things untold,_**  
"Oh, oh,  
" ** _You gotta say something, say something,_**  
" ** _Say something_** ,  
" ** _Say something now_**.

" ** _O-o-oh_** ,  
" ** _O-o-oh_** ,  
" ** _O-o-oh_** ,

" ** _Say something now~!_**

" ** _Say something now_**."

I pushed through the final chorus and tried to test my theory, and as long as I kept my concentration on the words of the song and didn't focus on anything in particular that changed, the world did indeed seem to fade, change, but I couldn't pinpoint how without breaking the change. I had to let myself get completely immersed in the song.

But this song came to an end, and we got a pretty strong applause from our crew and an impressed applause from everyone else. I had the next song all to myself, I remembered. I'd test my theory on my own. Perfect time, since no way was I going to think too hard while singing a solo. Falling into the music was the only way to survive. Fitting, considering I was singing ' _Deep End_.'

I played the keys and sang my beginning notes that weren't actual lyrics before moving to the first verse.

" _Where can I go_ ,  
" _When the shadows are callin'_ ,  
" _Shadows are callin' me?_

" _What can I do_ ,  
" _When it's pullin' me under_ ,  
" _Pullin' me underneath?_

" _It's getting close_ ,  
" _I lose control_ ,  
" _It's taking over_.

" _I'm slippin'_ ,  
" _Into the deep end_.  
" _I'm in over my head_ ,  
" _I can't catch my breath_.

" _I'm slippin'_ ,  
" _Into the deep end_.  
" _Feel the current within_ ,  
" _I can't help but give in_."

Sure enough, as I got into the second verse, I zoned out, and before the second verse was even over, I found myself standing in the coffee shop, though not on stage. I looked around for what was going on, but it took me a moment to realize that the only change in the shop was a woman in all black sitting at the table in front of me, right of the table Tsuchi and Kaze were at. It took me another moment to realize that it was me.

I… _she_ , was looking at a menu in her hands impassively. "I hear this place has a nice special on Fridays. What do you think?"

She looked up at me, her face no different than when I looked in a mirror, but her gaze enough to freeze me in place, worse than when I was on stage.

"Oh, but you've never  _really_  been here before, have you?"

She leaned back in her chair, setting the menu on the table and picking up a glass with what I assumed was liquor within it. She took a sip, and I could almost imagine the alcohol going down her throat. Maybe it was because she looked like me and I was getting some kind of phantom feeling, or maybe it was because I felt scared to get the next words out of my mouth.

"You're Chaos, aren't you?"

She waved her glass impassively, as though shooing me away. "You call us Zyanya, don't you?"

"Us?"

"Order and I? People think we're two different entities, and they're not far off the mark. But we, in the end, came from the same source. What that source is? Just…nothingness. But we've limited time here, don't we? Let's skip the stupid questions, if we can. You humans love stupid questions. Especially you. Always digressing, you. Not that it's not understandable. You've got a lot of thoughts swirling around in that pea-brain of yours."

"P-Pea bra-?!"

She put her finger up as though scolding me. "Shhh, shhh, what did I just say about stupid questions? You see you up there on stage?"

She waved her glass towards the stage behind me, and I turned to see that I was still up there, starting the second chorus right now.

"You've got about, oh, give or take a minute or two, two and a half at most, before you finish that song and our time here is up. After that, your little boy-toy over there gets to sing, but he's not the real thing, so it'll just be wasting our time."

"Don't call him my 'Boy-toy.'"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes. The real him is quite cute. Like the haircut, like the outfit, easy on the eyes, could work on the nose a bit."

"What?"

"Nevermind. You truly are impressive." She looked to the watch on her wrist. "Barely an hour here and you've already found a way to talk to me. Most don't even get the chance to communicate, let alone so quickly. I'll applaud you, for now. It is quite…interesting. You are not my original host, you are not meant to be here, yet you are. Using… _different_  methods than anyone else. You found a way to speak with me. Although, I can't promise it'll be pretty for you if you make direct contact with me like this, without being my proper host. Best we make this encounter short and sweet. Wish to play 20 questions with me?"

I scrambled to come up with what to say.

"How about I start? What is it like, in my dear Order's trials, without me around?"

"Uh…we were in…an apocalyptic world. She…made me kill everyone around me, everyone I loved. She made me afraid, tried to drive me insane, I suppose. But I made it. Even as she hosted me, there was always this feeling in my chest. This unease, as though I was still fighting my inner demons for the duration of the possession."

Chaos sighed and sipped her drink like that wasn't impressive. "Well, I  _assume_ , that even without me, Order's trials will remain the same, just as mine have. The difference being, we act differently. You see, me and Order are  _balanced_. Completely balanced. If we aren't balanced, I can't imagine it'll be pretty. It'll be quite entertaining to see you struggle along with everyone else who's ever got trapped in here, trying to beat my trials."

"Everyone who's ever taken on your trials is trapped in here?"

"More or less. Depending on when they die, how strong their will is. At this point, since I haven't had  _need_ for a new host in a very long time, there's only one other contender stuck here. Everyone else I've left somewhere else, in limbo, so to speak. She's the only other person on the playing field. And the only reason she's stuck here is because, well, I  _like_  seeing her in here. Not to mention she  _is_  very strong, I'll admit, but it's more for the entertainment value."

"Who?"

She clicked her tongue. "Figure it out."

I sighed. We were wasting time. I didn't know how long it had been, but I could still hear myself singing in the background. I worried that we were almost out of time and I hadn't gotten anything close to the answers that I wanted, but I didn't focus on it. Just like getting into this…place - I don't know, a veil hidden beneath the surface of this reality where I could speak with Chaos? - I had to assume that if I thought too hard, I'd be forced out sooner than I intended.

"Fine."

"So, back to that apocalyptic world of Order's. What did she do? Or what did  _he_  do, now, I suppose?"

"Um…back when  _I_  was taking the trials, it was a 'she.' She…followed me around saying cryptic stuff, but she was pretty quiet most of the time. Didn't answer questions, didn't answer at all sometimes."

Chaos glared at her glass like it had insulted her and she was ready to crush it. "See, that's not my Order. My Order, oh, he'd be shouting in your ear 24/7, he'd say cryptic things till your mind exploded, would never shut up. But…I suppose things have changed. Without me…" She ran her finger along the rim of her glass as she stared into space sadly. "My Order must be so afraid. But, he did what he always did in his trials, even if he was a little distorted. He made you kill all you love, made you turn against all of your morals - punch them all right in the face. Drove you to the brink of insanity. And after that?"

"Torture, being under her control. Hard to keep concentrated with all of the…nightmares that keep coming back to me."

"But my husband didn't give you those nightmares, did he? You've already had them yourself. He just dug them up from whatever grave you tried to bury them down in. You see, that's the thing. You've been through Order's trials, you're that rare person who's succeeded in Order's trials and then come  _here_. The last person who did  _that_ , well…actually, it's not really a surprise that  _you're_  the next person to have done so. In any case, if you've seen Order's trials, you've seen that  _world_  she puts you in, what do you think that you have to do in  _my_  trials? You were put in an apocalyptic world for Order's trials, and for me, you've been put in a paradise, of your own making. So what, do you say, do you think, is the key to getting out of here?"

I thought about it, but besides the obvious answers, I couldn't really think of anything else. "Accepting this world? Going against my morals?"

She rolled her eyes in a disappointed way. "Oh…very sad. It's quite complex, you see. Very few have been able to succeed in my trials. Anyone  _good_  can't succeed in Order's trials and anyone  _bad_  can't succeed in mine. And  _you_ , honey, you're the worst of them all. Why you're  _perfect_  for Order. But it's not  _just_  the killing, it's not  _just_  the going against your morals, it's so much  _more_. And until you figure out what that is, you're stuck here. Oh, but don't feel bad about it. Since you, like my other resident, are a former host of Order, you are not compatible with me. You'll have much less time than any other contender would. But unlike my other contender, still stuck here, you…I have no problem killing you. See, that's the thing. My other contender, she's special. Under normal circumstances she'd already be a goner, but she's stuck here for eternity until she gives up or succeeds. You, you are just a demigod, nothing. You aren't compatible with me, meaning every second you spend here is ripping you apart, sucking the life out of you until all that remains is…nothing."

"So you're saying your other contender is a god?"

"Maybe."

"It  _is_."

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem interested in continuing the argument. "Hm…so you do have  _some_ skill in that little bone-head of yours. Well, I guess I  _did_  give that one away, didn't I?" She sighed. "Perhaps I'd like to see what happens when you  _find_  this person. I want to see how you react, how they react to  _you_. I want to have some  _fun_  while you're here. Oh, but watch out. You feel that cold, that  _ice?_  It is claiming you. It is turning you, freezing you from the inside out. You remember what's it's like to  _burn_  under Order's power, when it was out of control. My power…guess what it is!"

"Ice. You're freezing me, like she burnt me."

She clicked her tongue as though I'd just realized my own mistakes. "Time, darling. Look at you. Burning, but freezing. I've always  _loved_  seeing my…failures…loose. See, Order, he burns you so hot you feel cold, like his little river of fire. But me? No, no, no, no, no. I freeze you until you  _burn!_  It's so much more fun than fire, don't you agree?"

She stood and began circling around me like she was examining a statue. She seemed unable to keep her mood. She went from sarcastic to sadistic to sympathetic and back again, mixing it up sometimes, but even she didn't seem to be able to keep everything in control. Despite her calm demeanor, she had little control over her mood swings right now.

"Though, I will admit. I like you, honey. You are  _interesting_. You got here, you got into such a focused state that you've managed to talk to me, manipulate this world to your own extent. Sure, you had to sing a little song, but considering the lengths that others have gone to get to me, that's not a very high price to pay. Your mind can concentrate very well, especially for a demigod born with ADHD - it doesn't even seem to affect you much, or, you're using it very well to your advantage. You can block out what you need to and focus on even just the energy in the air around you. You can tap into reality itself with that brain of yours. But only desperation drives a person to such heights, and you seem very calm, very…average, on the outside. Yet in that head of yours, oh, I just  _love_  it in there. Tell me, dear, tell me what you are inside. That little monster of insanity that you keep trying to pretend doesn't exist."

"I've just had a lot of time to practice my meditating," I hissed.

"Meditating?" She sighed, as though disappointed in my statement. "Oh, no, no, it's much more than that, my darling. You've been broken so many times, haven't you? The only thing that kept you going…oh, what was it? When all hope has been ripped away from you, what kept you  _going?_  That is the question, isn't it? Something even you can't explain."

She walked over and plopped down into her seat again, picking up her glass.

"So, let me ask you this. When you're given a life like this, a perfect life where you could live forever in your own paradise, what makes you resist? What makes you keep going, that, that is the conundrum I'm facing right now. Don't get your hopes up, but that is the key to winning these trials."

She drank from her glass, and she turned from cryptic to more serious.

"It's mere curiosity, but maybe the key to figuring out how you - you of  _all_  people, in the big wide world of coincidences - the key to figuring out how  _you_  are so special, is for you to succeed. I don't like you here. You're like a gnat, flying around inside my head trying to play god - an incompatible contestant who snuck in against my will - but perhaps you really are more than that. It won't be easy, you'll probably die a few times, but at the very least, I want to figure you out before you fade."

"Gee, thanks."

"You've talked to me, you've talked to Order. Who knows? Maybe one day you'll have the power to host us both. Or you'll die trying. Next time we meet, you'd better have a proper answer for me. If you're so good, you should already know what you must do. Find that part of you that keeps fighting, figure out what to do with it once you've found it. I don't often do this, but I'll make you a deal. If you can find my other contestant, she'll be allowed to give you information on what she knows. Maybe both of you idiots working together can come out with a victory."

"Why be so…cryptic?" I demanded. "I'm trying to return you to Order, trying to save you from Tartarus. Everything is on the line here, and you can't just tell me what I need to do and see if I can do it?"

She rolled her eyes. "I've helped you more than anyone else. I've given you  _hints_ , darling. Isn't that enough? It doesn't mean a thing if you can't figure it out on your own. I'm fighting against my son - who was once my loving little Tar-tar who is now been manipulated into turning against me by that wretched daughter-in-law of mine - to keep control over your soul so that you can at least have a chance here, and I'm trying to speed up the process so that you might put the pieces together. Do you know what it's like? To have your children turn against you, to have all your creations fighting and even  _fully_  willing to kill you? You may not be able to imagine this, but once upon a time, things were  _good_. We had a family, I had a son who loved me, and then the sky and the earth of the Olympians changed, started an era of hatred and destruction. And it wasn't just them. Gods and beings of all kind began to abuse the gifts that I gave them to try and destroy the things that Order and I made together. Now, because I am who I am and others took advantage of that, my name is now known as a symbol of loathing. I hated the fighting, and so the fighting hated me.

"Order? He loved it. He wanted to go wild and have fun, but I warned him of the consequences that might occur should we walk that path. Even  _we_  wouldn't be able to take back that step. But because he authorized it, encouraged the progression, the name 'Order' has become a symbol of creation and change, and 'Chaos' has become destruction and decadence. I hate this world of fighting, laziness, opposition, and useless wants and needs; I want nothing more than to just burn it all to the ground and end it, return it to the peaceful and quite nothingness of old, but you all have convinced me that it is worth fighting for, for just a little longer.

"I helped you fight the empousai, summoned the Titan to assist you when I cannot. If it wasn't for Order's Phlegethon, I would've been able to help you sooner when you were farther from the deepest depths of Tartarus, but we've moved past the point of my Deus ex Machina now. I can't come out when this close to my son or he will know that I've regained enough power to fight back properly, and when he realizes this, he will crush me while I'm weak. And Tartarus will be challenging your will himself, and I tell you that his 'Trials' are much easier to 'complete' than mine. He's going to break you, and it will  _not_  be pretty if you submit to him before you realize what you must do for me. I want to help, but for now, this is all that I can do when put in this position. There is no other way that I can take refuge within you, and so either you figure my trials out, or we're all doomed."

And the world flashed. I got whiplash as I found myself on stage again, Veon playing the chords at the middle of the song. Chaos had said that I'd have until I finished the song, but barely any time had passed, and we'd talked for well over 15 minutes. I didn't have time to think about it, as I needed to focus on where we were in the song and when my cue was. I just needed to finish the song. Luckily, I was nearing the final chorus and my favorite part of the song, where I got to sing the loudest.

" _It's getting close_ ,  
" _I lose control_ ,  
" _It's taking over_.

" _It's getting close_ ,  
" _I lose control_ ,  
" _It's taking over~!_

" _I'm slipping!_  
" _Into the deep end!_  
" _I'm in over my head!_  
" _And I can't catch my breath!_

" _I'm slipping!_  
" _Into the deep end~!_  
" _I feel the current within!_  
" _I can't help but give in~!_

" _I am lost in the deep end_ ,  
" _Oh-o-o-o-o-oh_ ,  
" _I am lost in the deep end_ ,  
" _Oh-o-o-o-o-oh_.

" _I am lost in the deep end_ ,  
" _Oh-o-o-o-o-oh_ ,  
" _I am lost in the deep end_ ,  
" _Oh-o-o-o-o-oh_."


	12. War Waging War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, nerding over songs I like continued. 'Nothing Left to Say Now,' is a really appropriate song for the Heroes of Olympus series. Someone made a video with the fan art in the background, don't know if you've seen it, if you haven't, just look up 'Nothing Left to Say Now Heroes of Olympus' and watch it. Also 'I'll Follow You Into the Dark' by Death Cab for Cutie is cool too, I was just anxious to get to the final song.
> 
> Popped over 8,500 words again. Argh! Stopping myself is just so hard!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> :)

First Person: Lucy

" **If Heaven and Hell decide, that they both are satisfied** ,  
" **Illuminate the 'No's on their vacancy signs** ,  
" **If there's no one beside you, when your soul embarks** ,  
" **Then I'll follow you into the dark**.

" **I'll follow you into the dark**."

Veon strummed the final note on the guitar, since he was playing as well as singing, and I had nothing to do but ponder what Chaos had said. It was kind of weird. My mind was hazy, the entire conversation a bit hard to keep track of. All I knew is that Chaos was expecting me to delve into memories that I'd wanted to bury a long time ago. But what would I do when I did? Was I supposed to conquer them again? That was what Order had me do. But even she - he now, I guess - hadn't gone as deep as he could've. Maybe it was because he was weakened, maybe it was because I just didn't remember. But I had things that I pushed so far back into my mind that even just brushing the edge of the memories seemed like poking a sleeping dragon.

I barely noticed as Veon moved to sit beside me on his stool with the guitar. He strummed it, and suddenly a drum roll came out instead of a guitar sound. So the guitar was able to mimic other instruments just like the keyboard. That made a bit of sense, I guess. Why have just one keyboard to play a song with? Even with the ability to switch back and forth quickly, even loop what you had played to continue on while you play another instrument, having a second player would make things much easier - and you know, possible.

He nodded to me, and I began playing the first chords for the final song. This was a long intro, but Veon began playing some too, our music mixing together properly even though I hadn't practiced this ever before. I was no longer afraid of knowing my part and how we'd split up the song, even if I still had the normal bout of nervousness. When the drums kicked in, Veon was the first to sing.

Key:  
 _Lucy_  
 **Veon**  
 ** _Both_**

" **Who knows, how long, I've been awake now?**  
" **The shadows on my wall don't sleep**.  
" **They keep calling me, beckoning**.

" _Who knows, what's right?_  
" _The lines keep getting thinner_.  
" _My age has never made me wise_.

" ** _But I keep pushing on, and on, and on, and on~_**

" _O-o-oh~_  
" **There's nothing left to say now** ,  
" _O-o-oh~_  
" **There's nothing left to say now**.

" _Oh~_  
" **I'm giving up, giving up, hey, hey** ,  
" **Giving up now** ,  
" _Oh~_  
" **Giving up, giving up, hey, hey** ,  
" **Giving up now**.

" _O-o-oh~_  
" **There's nothing left to say now** ,  
" _O-o-oh~_  
" **There's nothing left to say now**.

" _Oh~_  
" **I'm giving up, giving up, hey, hey** ,  
" **Giving up now** ,  
" _Oh~_  
" **Giving up, giving up, hey, hey** ,  
" **Giving up now**.

" _Below, my soul, I feel an engine_.  
" _Collapsing as it sees the pain_.  
" _If I could only, shut it out_.

" **I've come, too far, to see the end now**.  
" **Even if my way is wrong**.

" ** _And I keep pushing on, and on, and on, and on~_**

" **O-o-oh~**  
" _There's nothing left to say now_ ,  
" **O-o-oh~**  
" _There's nothing left to say now_.

" **Oh~**  
" _I'm giving up, giving up, hey, hey_ ,  
" _Giving up now_ ,  
" **Oh~**  
" _Giving up, giving up, hey, hey_ ,  
" _Giving up now_.

" **O-o-oh~**  
" _There's nothing left to say now_ ,  
" **O-o-oh~**  
" _There's nothing left to say now_.

" **Oh~**  
" _I'm giving up, giving up, hey, hey_ ,  
" _Giving up now_ ,  
" **Oh~**  
" _Giving up, giving up, hey, hey_ ,  
" _Giving up now_.

" **I keep falling, I keep falling down** ,  
" **I keep falling, I keep falling down**.

" _Hey!_ "

" **I keep falling, I keep falling down** ,  
" **I keep falling, I keep falling down**.

" _If you could only save me_ ,  
" _I'm drowning in the waters of my soul~!_

" **There's nothing left to say now** ,

" _Say!_ "

" **There's nothing left to say now** ,

" **Oh~**  
" _I'm giving up, giving up, hey, hey_ ,  
" _Giving up now_ ,  
" **Oh~**  
" _Giving up, giving up, hey, hey_ ,  
" _Giving up now_.

" **O-o-oh~**  
" _There's nothing left to say now_ ,

" **Say!** "

" **O-o-oh~**  
" _There's nothing left to say now_.

" _Oh~_  
" **I'm giving up, giving up, hey, hey** ,  
" **Giving up now** ,  
" _Oh~_  
" **Giving up, giving up, hey, hey** ,  
" **Giving up now**.

Veon finished out with the guitar and I played a cello on the keyboard as we finished the closing lines of simply humming "Ooo" lightly.

When the audience gave their applause, Veon leaned over and put his hand on my shoulder. "You okay?"

I didn't understand what he meant until I finally felt my eyes and cheeks to realize that I had been crying. I didn't know why, I couldn't tell you when I had started, but something about the song resonated with me. Giving up, eh? Falling down? Drowning in the waters of my soul? Nothing left to say? Even just the beginning. Who knows how long I've been awake? The shadows on my wall don't sleep. Every lyric in this song was…scarily accurate.

I nodded to him and wiped my tears, before heading off the stage to the others.

"You guys did great," Emily said.

"You okay, Flower?" Dad asked.

I nodded. "Fine."

" _These are good nachos,_ " Kaze commented.

" _And Kandai's paying, so load up,_ " Tsuchi said.

" _Hey!_ " Papa protested. " _I'm not paying for your obsessions! How about you get a_ job _Tsuchi?_ "

" _I have a job. Stealing things._ "

" _Is that a job?_ " Ithuriel whispered.

" _No._ " " _Yes._ "

Ithuriel spoke Japanese? That was good to know.

"Were they even paying attention?" Audrey asked.

"They can appreciate a good song, I'd assume," Veon said. "After all, who can ignore our awesomeness?"

"Here, have a drachma for a great first performance," Emily offered.

"Sweet," I said, taking the coin. "We can totally make money this way."

"At this rate, we'll be able to buy a new instrument within the month," Veon said sarcastically. "We'll be rich."

"Or maybe Lu can finally get the energy to buy birthday presents," Audrey suggested.

"I've bought you all birthday presents!" I protested.

"Not consistently."

"But the stuffed animals are always adorable," Emily added. "Not overly fancy so that I feel obligated to pay special attention to it all the time, but cute and common so I can put anywhere in our apartment or the cabin at Camp Half-Blood."

"See? Emily's on my side," I said happily.

"Let's just get to the celebrating," Dad said. "Camp Half-Blood's always fun, but how are things over here?"

"Average life," Veon said. "Taking online courses, but mostly home-schooling by our own standards. If we need to learn something for a job, we try and learn it on our own using the internet and the library, and if it's something more formal, we take a college course online. We're not doing all the classes at once, just doing what we need at the time. It's not like if we  _did_  take them all at once that we'd remember them for any longer than the course required."

"And the search for the Wards? We haven't gotten a visit from you in a while with any more new kids."

Wards?  _The_  Wards? As in, the kind of Ward that Kaze and I had met in?

Audrey's mood shifted. "We've liberated nine Wards thanks to Order and Chaos assisting us, but…these people are smart. They're adapting, putting the Wards on high alert, even relocating the kids. The more places we save, the tighter their security becomes. I can't imagine what kind of things might be happening to monitor the demigods more closely, and of course, there are the kids who  _aren't_  demigods who are being held there just because they had some kind of skill all on their own."

Order and Chaos assisting? Did that mean that in this world we had saved them both? The war was over, the two camps allies, the Primordials safe, and all of our friends and family alive and well.

"Can't the Primordials just…I don't know, poof things to the way they want them?" Kandai asked.

"It depends on the power of their hosts," Ithuriel said. "Being in hosts at all limits them, but they believe that if their hosts want something, they have to earn it without their power. In essence, if the host wants control, they won't have the Primordial's power, and if the Primordials are in control, they have their power, but they don't care much for humans affairs, only their own."

How would Ithuriel know so much about the Primordials? I wanted desperately to know more about him, but would it be weird to ask to talk to him in private?

"We can't rely on them for everything," Emily said. "Demigods have made it all this time without the gods on speed dial. We'll rescue them all, guys, but we can't give up because it might take a long time and it'll be hard."

"How are the kids that we've already saved settling into Camp Half-Blood?" Veon asked.

"They're…there," Kandai admitted. "They don't like any of the other kids, they don't like having to adapt to another language, and they're almost forming a large cult. Not that any of us can blame them. A few of them have accepted the goodness of the camp and are trying to influence the others, but it's a slow process. Granted, I can't imagine what kind of things they're recovering from, and the children that come after will probably have it even worse."

"Emily and Kan are doing counseling sessions occasionally," Ithuriel said. "Emily's really good at understanding people. And Kan is too. He also works as the infirmary. He practically works himself to death, if he weren't already dead."

"I'm not  _technically_  dead," He said. "I was brought back by the power of Deus ex Machina."

"More like just Deus. And so was Tsuchi. And Kaze."

The two of them looked up, both having a conversation while on their second serving of nachos each. They didn't follow the conversation, but they  _were_  alert to when they heard their names. Ithuriel waved them off and they went back to their meal.

"Kandai and Tsuchi may have their souls, but their makeshift bodies don't require them to eat or sleep, so they share  _some_  characteristics of being dead."

"Gee, thanks, Urie. Glad to know you love me."

Then, Ithuriel surprised me by kissing my dad lightly and smiling. "Yup!" He said proudly.

It wasn't as though I was against my father having a relationship, and the fact that it was a guy didn't bother me either. I just hadn't ever known my dad to have any relationship before. I never grew up with a mom and a dad, just my dad, who wasn't exactly in a position to do much dating as a demigod living on his own. If he grew up in a place similar to Camp Half-Blood, maybe, but he was surrounded by mostly mortals, and a relationship with a mortal had big risks.

It was weird to see him with someone at all, not just the fact that he wasn't with my mother; I didn't know what my dad being with my mom even looked like, so it wasn't like I had something to miss. Ithuriel seemed nice, but the questions only grew. If he was a god, how was it possible that he was able to stay with us like this? If I wrote that he was a god on that photo, that meant it couldn't be a secret that he was a deity, but which one was he?

I was instantly protective of my dad. I wanted to know who this person was, but more than that, I just felt a connection to Ithuriel in general. I sensed that I liked him already, as though we had a bond similar to that of me and my dad, but I didn't know who he was, despite this world seemingly trying to fill me in on what I needed to know while also trying to push out my real memories and make me question what was real.

"Ithuriel, can I talk-?"

But I was interrupted my Veon's phone going off. He pulled it out of his pocket and stood. "I've gotta take this."

He walked a short distance away to the edge of the room, before he waved over Kandai. The two of them started talking, and Veon showed him something on his phone, purposefully trying to be secretive. I tried to listen in on the conversation, focusing in on them above the noise in the coffee shop, but when I increased my hearing, I suddenly heard a high-pitched whine specifically being put out to overwhelm any sensitive hearing. I flinched and lowered my hearing back to normal. The two people that I loved most were now the two people that I wanted to kick in the groin the most.

"The hell are they doing?" I wondered.

"They're being all secretive," Ithuriel said.

"No duh."

The two of them walked back to the table. "I've gotta fly," Veon said. "My dad's got an assignment for me."

"And you need  _my_  dad's help for that, why?" I demanded with my arms crossed.

"It's a spirit from Elysium that knew Kandai."

"His name's Kin," Papa said. "Back when Thanatos was freed, he led the rebellion in Elysium."

"Rebellion?"

"A lot of the spirits there wanted to visit their loved ones again. They said that it'd be just a short trip and they'd be back before they could be missed, but imagine it. Hundreds of dead people that died as heroes suddenly popping back for a 'short visit.' Most would be persuaded to just stay and not return to Elysium again, like Sisyphus en masse. I brought the point up and encouraged people to stay, and a lot of people listened to me."

"Kan's got way with words," Ithuriel added with a warm gaze.

"But Kin fought that since all of us had reached Elysium, we were responsible enough to return, and that we deserved a trip to the world of the living."

"But they all had the chance to be reborn if they wanted to return so badly, right?" Audrey pointed out. "They made the choice to stay in Elysium."

"Sure, but rebirth requires memories to be erased, and in this case, they wanted to return while keeping them."

"Kin and Kan," Emily mused. "It's like the new version of Yin and Yang."

"Anyway, dad wants Kan and I to go and handle him, me for the soul governing abilities, and Kan for the fact that he knows Kin."

"We'll be back in time for the party tonight," Dad promised.

"Party?" I asked.

He looked surprised and slightly panicked. "You didn't know?"

"The legion's got a day off," Audrey jumped in. "They just came back from a battle in Texas with a large gathering of monsters. The monster attacks had lowered since the war, and the legion finally tracked down where they had gathered. They're having a big celebration - like, defeating Poly-B levels of partying."

"Are we really calling Polybotes Ploy-B now?" Veon asked.

"What? I like it. It worked with Kenny G."

"Uh…right," I said. "Right, sorry. Just having a brain-fart."

"We'll see you then," Veon said, giving me a light kiss on the cheek before he and Kandai dropped into the shadows.

"Was that suspicious?" I asked. "Or am I just going crazy?"

Emily shrugged and took a bite of the brownie she had.

Audrey stood. "Let's get the equipment back to your apartment. We can get you some ice cream."

"Sure…I guess."

"Come on," Ithuriel said happily. "We can pick out outfits for when the boys get back for the party!"

He grabbed my arm and dragged me to my feet - his strength supporting the claim that he was a god of some kind - and pulled me out of the coffee shop.

* * *

First Person: Zytaveon

When I woke up, I rushed over to Emily's room to see if she was up. I heard shouting from Frank's room from Mars and Ares, who Order had informed me were screaming in his head and I could hear it because Order could.

" _Can you_ please _just give me a name?_ " Order drawled. " _It feels personal when you refer to me as Order. Even your girlfriend wasn't allowed to call me Order._ "

" ** _Do you have a preference?_** "

He leaned against the door in thought. " _Nah. Zyanya was fancy, before that I had Angel. My host had thought I was an angel, it was weird. In Christian religion, I am commonly just called 'God.' It's also very weird. Humans liked to picture my wife and I in many different ways._ "

" ** _How about Chuck, then?_** "

He raised an eyebrow in surprise. " _Chuck?_ "

" ** _In Supernatural, Chuck is God._** "

He shrugged. " _Okay then. If that's what you want. Chuck it is, then._ "

I knocked on the door to Emily's room, and she opened it only seconds later, looking ecstatic. "It's gone! The drachma made it!"

"Really?!"

"I've checked my bed, it's nowhere that I've found. Trust me, I took the bed apart. We could always go to Leo for some kind of metal - or drachma - detector, but-"

"But you have a way of getting to her!" I exclaimed. "We can get them supplies and even messages!"

"That's the hope. But remember, it's not a perfect system. I remember that, at the time, I nearly forgot what I was supposed to do with the coin. I was at the show and it came to an end, and I gave it to her casually saying it was a drachma for the performance or something. You made a joke that you'd be rich at that rate."

"That sounds like me," I admitted.

"Anyway, let's go tell the others!"

Emily hurried off, but as I followed I heard Mars and Ares shouting from Frank's room. They were, quite literally, waging war within Frank's head, and even Order - I mean, Chuck, seemed to be getting annoyed with them.

" _Veon, be a dear and get me close to them,_ " He requested.

Heat started flowing through my body (not in  _that_  way), and suddenly I started walking towards Frank's room without telling my body to do so. I figured that it was Chuck taking command, which I hoped didn't do any damage, but he seemed pretty ticked off at this point that he didn't seem to care. I opened the door, and Chuck's mental image stomped in before walking over to the bed and poofing away.

Usually Frank fell asleep as a dog, particularly a bulldog, and he'd never said anything about changing shape in his sleep. What I found on the bed instead was a reticulated python. He'd confided to Emily that he slept like a dog because his nightmares didn't seem to bother him as much and the screaming of the two parts of his dad seemed to dim and even become non-existent. I wondered what being a snake caused him to dream of. Wonder if he had a dream about slowly swallowing a rat or something.

The voices had been quieter for him while he was transformed, but when he woke up, he braced himself and changed back into a human and he winced as he now heard the full glory of the headache of the god of war.

" ** _Fight them!_** " Yelled Mars. " ** _Take this ship! Defend Rome!_** "

" ** _Kill the Romans!_** " Ares shouted back. " ** _Blood and death! Large guns!_** "

His father's Roman and Greek personalities screamed back and forth in Frank's mind with the usual soundtrack of battle noises - explosions, assault rifles, roaring jet engines - all throbbing like a subwoofer behind Frank's eyes. Just being too close to Frank gave me whiplash.

" ** _You two! There you are!_** " I heard Chuck shout. " ** _What is going on here?! Can't you let a Primordial be free of a headache for_** **one** ** _day?! It's bad enough I'm stuck in_** **that** ** _loser, but I have to hear_** **this** ** _conflict continue as well?! I've dealt with you Romans and Greeks arguing for_** **millennia!** ** _This is why the Egyptians are my favorite!_** "

I probably should've felt offended, but I'd read up on Egyptian myths before, and really, based on everything I know of the Olympians, could we really blame Chuck for feeling that way? Then again, he  _did_ choose to take up host in the daughter of a son of Apollo rather than go talk to them Egyptians, so really, Chuck was giving me mixed signals here.

" ** _I chose_** **Zenobia!** " Chuck corrected. " ** _Your little girlfriend's mother? Zenobia is universally known and exists in all religions and mythical worlds that humans do. After all, humans have always found the hidden strength within them ever since the dawn of creation - a matter of self-preservation and survival. I also chose Zenobia's daughter. It was mere coincidence that she had met a son of Apollo and bared a child with him. Or possibly that was me_** **making** ** _that happen and I can't remember in my deluded state. I've always been quite fond of Apollo._** "

I walked over to the desk and turned the knob on the side of an old-fashioned candle, like what you'd see in a Victorian-age movie. It was fueled by magic olive oil from the supply room, a flame that burned night and day and could be adjusted with the small knob on the candle-holder. Emily had recommended that Frank find a way to focus his mind, and a light was recommended at first. Light bulbs didn't work, as we'd tried before, but as it turned out, an open flame, nothing diluting the light like glass, for example, seemed to work the best. Ironically, an open flame, one of Frank's worst fears, was what helped him the most.

The tiny flame increased in size as I turned the knob, and Frank sat up on his berth, instantly dizzy with pain. I had a feeling that Chuck's shouting was only adding to the sensation. The Mist that Hecate had given me seemed to cloak me from all pain involving Chuck's presence, including the pain that I should be feeling from hearing the argument between him and the god of war.

Emily had doctor-patient confidentiality when it came to the therapy sessions she had on the ship, but she informed me, as the leader of our team, of anything that might interfere with the productivity of the crew. The five of the prophecy didn't seem to have a designated leader, and Emily was reluctant to single out the most likely candidate - Jason - as he was already going through enough stress. Since Lu and Chuck (as Zyanya) together, really, made our team to look after the demigods of the prophecy and I was currently the second-in-command that was in charge by default, I was the closest thing to a leader we had, not that I was very enthusiastic about it.

If there were any problems that occurred or issues that were bothering people, it was extremely important to know them and take them into account whenever we made teams or considered roles. We needed a schedule for monster duty day and night, pairing the able people with the slightly inhibited people so that we didn't have teams of completely strong and completely weak. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than the alternative. If the stronger people had too much work looking after the ship and fighting the attacks, we could end up with a team of  _all_  inhibited people.

I knew, even without her telling me, that Emily sometimes felt like the odd-man-out on the team (really that should be me since I'm literally the only guy on our team of four), mostly because she was the only one not related to the Big Three and her powers were less offensive than the rest of us. I tried to assure her that she was fine just the way she was, we liked her that way. We liked having that one person to keep our spirits high, and not everyone needed to be a fighter to help people. Her abilities were cool, and we were lucky that she was such a good person. We had made fun of her enduringly bright look on life back when we were in high school, but in the end, it was a nice change of pace to all the doom and gloom of the rest of the world, especially during a quest so daunting.

It had taken Emily only seconds to figure out why a light bulb wasn't working too well for Frank and suggested an open flame. Anyone else would've been against bringing up the idea because of Frank's secret weakness, but Emily somehow knew that it was right. Having the power to know exactly what to say and do to help people? That was awesome.

"You good?" I asked.

The noises of the gods chatting seemed to dim into the background, allowing Frank to think more clearly. He'd gotten better at this, but for days, he'd been in a lot of pain and wasn't really combat-ready. It's why I was hesitating to send him out even with an equipped partner. As soon as the fighting broke out at Camp Jupiter, the war god's two voices had started screaming non-stop, or at least that's what Chuck has told me. I was only able to now hear it because Chuck was inside me, but I had a feeling that Lu had aided Zyanya in slapping the war god on more than one occasion for the constant bickering. Of course, this was Ares/Mars we were talking about, and they weren't as easy to silence as other gods might be, especially with Chuck too weak to permanently keep them down. Frank had been stumbling around in a daze, barely able to function on most occasions, and I was pretty sure the rest of the crew thought he'd lost his marbles.

Frank insisted that no one else be told about his condition. What could they do, after all? The others clearly couldn't sympathize with his problem, and again with the whole worrying thing. As long as Em and I knew about it, we should be able to diffuse or dissuade any bad ideas that would put Frank in a precarious situation. Frank was dead-set on pushing through, and assured me that he'd be ready to go out for guard duty or even on a mission soon enough once he got used to his father's screams. It seemed to revolve around the loss of Annabeth in particular - she had been kind to him even when he was distracted and acted like a buffoon, patient and helpful.

While Ares screamed that Athena's children couldn't be trusted (probably because he was basically the opposite kind of god of war as Athena - brains vs. brawn), and Mars bellowed at him to kill all the Greeks in general, Frank had grown a lot of respect for Annabeth, as had all of us. Now that we were without her, Audrey was trying to be the next best thing the group had to a military strategist, but Frank felt obligated to help her and even to take over since he had much more Legion training than her.

Frank nodded as he rose to get dressed. Fortunately, he'd managed to buy some new clothes in Siena a couple of days ago, replacing the laundry that Leo had sent flying away on Buford the table. He tugged on some Levi's and an army-green T-shirt, then reached for his favorite pullover before remembering he didn't need it. The weather was too warm. More importantly, he didn't need the pockets anymore to protect the magical piece of firewood that controlled his lifespan. Hazel was keeping it safe for him. Frank admitted that he probably should've been nervous about that, but he trusted Hazel more than he trusted himself. Knowing she was safeguarding his big weakness made him feel better - like he'd fastened his seatbelt for a high-speed chase.

He slung his bow and quiver over his shoulder, and they immediately morphed into a regular backpack. Frank loved that feature, and to think he never would've known about the quiver's camouflage power if Leo hadn't figured it out for him.

" ** _Leo!_** " Mars raged. " ** _He must die!_** "

" ** _Throttle him!_** " Ares agreed. " ** _Throttle everyone! Who are we talking about again?_** "

" ** _How is it that you two can argue and agree at the same time?!_** " Chuck demanded.

The three of them began shouting at each other again, over the sound of bombs exploding in Frank's skull. I quickly helped Frank as he wobbled from nausea. For days, Frank had listened to those voices demanding Leo's death. After all, Leo had started the war with Camp Jupiter by firing the ballista into the Forum. Sure, he'd been possessed at the time, but again, this was Ares/Mars, not Athena/Minerva, and he (they?) demanded vengeance. Leo made things harder by constantly teasing Frank, and Ares demanded that Frank retaliate for every insult.

Frank kept the voices at bay, claiming that he was getting used to them, but I knew that he was barely holding on. Back on the trip across the Atlantic, Leo had said something that still stuck in Frank's mind. When we'd learned Gaea the evil earth goddess had put a bounty on our heads, Leo had wanted to know for how much. ' _I can understand not being as pricey as Jason or Percy, but am I worth, like, two or three Franks?_ ' Lu had dismissed it quickly and said we were all equal in value, and obviously it had just been another one of Leo's stupid jokes, but the comment hit a little too close to home. On the Argo II Frank felt like the LVP - Least Valuable Player. Sure, he could turn into animals, but it hadn't done much so far. He'd helped save us from the Kako, but he'd nearly thought he'd lost me in the process. He'd changed into a weasel to escape from an underground workshop, and even  _that_  had been Leo's idea. Frank was better known for the Giant Goldfish Fiasco in Atlanta, and, just yesterday, for turning into a two-hundred-kilo gorilla only to get knocked senseless by a flash-bang grenade. Leo hadn't made any gorilla jokes at his expense yet, but it was only a matter of time.

We'd tried to reassure him at any instance his thoughts started wandering that way, Emily admitting that she had felt like she wasn't much help in the crew either, and the rest of us admitting that the flash-grenade had knocked all of us off guard. Frank tried to argue, but Emily was able to shut out his dark thoughts for the time being. She even vowed to give Leo a scolding if Leo kept up his jokes when it wasn't appropriate.

" ** _Kill him!_** "

" ** _Torture him!_** **Then** ** _kill him!_** "

" ** _Zytaveon, would you like to earn the title of God-Slayer?_** " Chuck hissed.

" ** _Video-game logic_** **would** ** _make me the new god of war,_** " I admitted.

The two sides of the war god seemed to be kicking and punching each other inside Frank's head, using his sinuses as a wrestling mat.

" ** _Blood! Guns!_** "

" ** _Rome! War!_** "

" ** _Ugh, SILENCE!_** " Chuck finally snapped.

Amazingly, the voices finally obeyed. I felt a spike of heat surge within me, my entire body seemed to go through a heat-wave, and I could swear that I felt stinging under my skin, like when you let your leg fall asleep from sitting on it too long and everything was tingly to the point of pain afterwards. I felt a strong urge to dive into the ocean just to cool down, and at the very least I needed some fresh air.

"Let's get upstairs," I said quickly.

* * *

First Person: Audrey

"What  _are_  they?" Hazel asked.

The Argo II was docked at a busy wharf. On one side stretched a shipping channel about half a kilometer wide. On the other spread the city of Venice - red-tiled roofs, metal church domes, steepled towers, and sun-bleached buildings in all the colors of Valentine candy hearts - red, white, ochre, pink, and orange. Everywhere there were statues of lions - on top of pedestals, over doorways, on the porticoes of the largest buildings. There were so many, I figured the lion must be the city's mascot. Where streets should've been, green canals etched their way through the neighborhoods, each one jammed with motorboats. Along the docks, the sidewalks were mobbed with tourists shopping at the T-shirt kiosks, overflowing from stores, and lounging across acres of outdoor café tables, like pods of sea lions. And I had thought  _Rome_  was full of tourists.

We weren't paying much attention to any of that, though. We had gathered at the starboard rail to stare at the dozens of weird shaggy monsters milling through the crowds. Each monster was about the size of a cow, with a bowed back like a broken-down horse, matted gray fur, skinny legs, and black cloven hooves. The creatures' heads seemed much too heavy for their necks. Their long, anteater-like snouts drooped to the ground. Their overgrown gray manes completely covered their eyes. One of the creatures lumbered across the promenade, snuffling and licking the pavement with its long tongue. The tourists parted around it, unconcerned, a few even petted it.

I wondered how the mortals could be so calm. Then again, the Hyperboreans back in Alaska hadn't disturbed the population, and they were enormous. I remembered the Mist and the 'ignorance is bliss' state that it put mortals in. What did they see them as, anyway? Moose? Cows?

"Beagles," Veon corrected, as though reading my mind. "The Mist is making them look like old, fat beagles."

Jason grunted. "The mortals think they're stray dogs."

"Or pets roaming around," Piper suggested. "My dad shot a film in Venice once. I remember him telling me there were dogs everywhere. Venetians love dogs."

I remembered that Piper's dad was a famous A-list movie star. I'd never had famous friends before, and I wasn't a big fan of Tristan McLean - not because I hated him or anything, but just because I wasn't one to obsess over movie stars in general. She didn't talk about her dad much anyway, pretty down-to-earth for a kid raised in Hollywood. Being a demigod probably played a factor in that, but it was a good thing that no one knew her as her father's daughter. The last thing we needed on this quest was paparazzi taking pictures of all our epic fails and bad acting to get out of precarious situations. We'd probably look even stupider than normal to mortals because they wouldn't be able to see the monsters that were threatening us.

"But what are they?" Frank asked, repeating Hazel's question. "They look like…starving, shaggy cows with sheepdog hair."

"I'm  _sure_  I read about them  _somewhere_ ," I said, straining my brain to remember. "Something with a K? Cattle…Keto-blue-ponies…something like that. They're mentioned somewhere in the books. If only I had a mind-palace like from Sherlock."

"Maybe they're harmless," Leo suggested. "They're ignoring the mortals."

"Harmless?!" Gleeson Hedge laughed.

The satyr wore his usual gym shorts, sports shirt, and coach's whistle. His expression was as gruff as ever, but he still had one pink rubber band stuck in his hair from the prankster dwarfs in Bologna. I was kinda scared to mention it to him.

"Valdez, how many  _harmless_  monsters have we met? We should just aim the ballistae and see what happens."

"Uh, how about no, Coach?" Emily said gently. "If we fire the ballistae, we might hit the humans, and if we don't kill all of them, the rest will swarm the ship in anger. Those things are like bulls. We'd best not make the ship their target if we don't have a plan."

If it were anyone else, the Coach might have argued, but Emily was impossible to counter, and she'd learned to speak the language of Coach Hedge. Whenever logic came into the equation, the Coach provided his own made-up ones instead and seemed to claim them as law, but Emily was actually able to get through to him. Bless her, really.

"We'll have to walk through them and hope they're peaceful," Frank said, his tone giving away how much he hated the idea already. "It's the only way we're going to track down the owner of that book."

Leo pulled the leather-bound manual from underneath his arm. He'd slapped a sticky note on the cover with the address the dwarfs in Bologna had given him. "' _La Casa Nera. Calle Frezzeria_."

"We've deciphered that it could mean, quite literally, The  _Nera_  House, or The  _Black_  House - if we fully translate it," Veon said, walking forward. "Considering this side of the planet is multilingual, I would look out for both. Not to mention it could literally just be a black house that we're looking for, but the way the dwarf said it, he seemed to have been referring to a literal name."

"Calle Frezzeria is more likely to be the literal street name," Nico continued. "Even in the States, there are plenty of multilingual street names. The odds of the literal 'Frezzeria Street' is highly unlikely, especially while we're in Venice of all places."

Frank flinched just slightly when he realized that Nico was standing at his shoulder. The guy was so quiet and brooding, he almost seemed to dematerialize when he wasn't speaking. Hazel might have been the one who came back from the dead, but Nico was  _way_  more ghostlike. Veon had a tendency to disappear when he wanted to, being the introvert that he was, but he was at least somewhat noticeable even when he was trying not to be. For him, it seemed to be more like a test to see how long he could go without people acknowledging him. If he was in a really bad mood and just wanted to be left alone, he'd pretend that the rest of the world didn't exist, and even if you  _did_  address him, he'd stay silent and just  _dare_  you to keep talking to him.

"You speak Italian?" Frank blurted, as though that was the first thing that came to mind and he didn't actually think about it.

Nico shot him a warning look, like: ' _Watch the questions_.' He spoke calmly, despite the fact that he was practically holding Frank at knifepoint with his eyes. "Frank is right. We have to find that address. The only way to do it is to walk the city. Venice is a maze. We'll have to risk the crowds and those…whatever they are."

Thunder rumbled in the clear summer sky. We'd passed through some storms the night before, and I thought they were now over, but the air felt as thick and warm as a sauna steam. If I didn't know any better, I might've suspected that Lu was going to make a grand entrance, lightning flashing without a source in sight. It reminded me of her absence and made my chest clench. There were times when I could get tired of her personality, I admit it without shame. Even once she'd become Zyanya, her serious demeanor and condescending attitude became just as endearing as the quirky, never-stop-talking, obsessing-over-little-things-for-ages, awkwardly-bold-at-times-and-then-extremely-shy-and-introverted-at-others Lucy that we all had known and…tolerated. Well, Emily seemed to like anyone and found it amusing. I only realized how big a role she played in all our lives until she was gone.

Jason frowned at the horizon. "Maybe I should stay on board. Lots of venti in that storm last night. If they decide to attack the ship again…"

That only made my feelings worse. Jason was now the only stormy fighter - the only one who stood a decent chance against the wind creatures and actually seemed to have some luck with fighting them. With him feeling like he needed to be a leader, he would work himself to death at this rate, feeling obligated to take over shifts day and night whenever we were in the sky, or just when he thought venti could be near. As if teenagers didn't  _already_  suffer from sleep deprivation when we  _weren't_  trying to fight a war and save the world.

Hedge grunted. "Well, I'm out too. If you soft-hearted cupcakes are going to stroll through Venice without even whacking those furry animals on the head, forget it. I don't like  _boring_  expeditions."

He said that as though he was trying to provoke us into making things more exciting by going on the offensive.

"It's okay, Coach," Leo grinned. "We still have to make repairs to the ship. Then, I need your help in the engine room. I've got an idea for a new installation."

The gleam in Leo's eyes had me worried. Since Leo had found that Archimedes sphere, he'd been trying out a lot of 'new installations.' Usually, they exploded or sent smoke billowing upstairs and into the cabins.

"I'll stay and help too," Emily offered.

I couldn't tell if she was more worried about Leo, Hedge, or the two of them put together, but I agreed that it was probably best she stay here. Besides, she went out on the last stop. I'd been cooped up with cabin fever and admittedly, my eyes were tired from so much reading and my head hurt from processing so much information. It was cool information, but my brain was fried. I think a good battle might do be well.

"Well…" Piper shifted her feet. "Whoever goes should be good with animals. I, uh…I'll admit I'm not great with cows."

I remembered a story about why Piper was a vegan, and no one else thought it appropriate to ask.

"I'll go," Frank volunteered.

Considering Frank hadn't had a lot of time off the ship, I figured he was suffering from nearly as much cabin fever as me. I mean, it was bound to be suggested at some point.  _Animals? Frank can turn into animals! Send him!_  Let's be honest, it was the first place our minds went to.

"Me too," Veon said. "I…uh, my language abilities also apply to animals for some reason, so…B-Besides, I can help with the Italian too."

I had a feeling that Veon had another reason behind his actions, but he hadn't even opened up to Emily about what was constantly bothering him. More often than not, he knew about things that he shouldn't have, often able to know something that was happening that should've been out of even his peripheral vision, and even know things that were happening across the ship. He was constantly zoning out, looking to the side and staring at things, even following something invisible with his eyes even though there was nothing there - and I'm not talking he's looking into the sunset or into the water or clouds, I was talking following an invisible mouse across the deck or something - and he even sometimes muttered things under his breath and gave a glare at the empty space he was looking at.

I might be able to pass it off as a ghost that he was talking to, being a son of Hades and talking about speaking to spirits before, but Nico never showed the same symptoms, and when they were in the same room, Nico didn't even glance in the direction Veon could be staring at for even a second. It could be Nico was just better at ignoring ghosts than Veon, but Veon was a sane guy that I knew, and if something bothered him, he could ignore things with a vigor. Like, when he was pissed at the world, he could stare at nothing or even close his eyes and even if you tried to knock him over, he'd just shove you away and return to his previous state, no sign of anger on his face no matter how many times you bugged him or for how long (trust me, I'd tested it on multiple occasions).

I also addressed the fact that maybe Veon was  _better_  than Nico at seeing ghosts and saw them more frequently, maybe even the ghost was specifically making themself known to Veon alone, but it wasn't like this happened everywhere we went, ghosts popping up to say hello and/or bug the nearest child of Hades. If that was the case, ghosts would be bugging both boys, maybe picking and choosing, but still, plenty that would choose Nico too. They had a soul-bond, so it wasn't like there was some kind of soul-y smell that repelled ghosts from talking to Nico, as evident by the fact that  _he'd_  reported talking to the dead as well when he learned about the House of Hades. It could just be our location, but Veon hadn't started expressing these symptoms until after Rome - after we'd spent enough time past the Mediterranean to have started the process, but he didn't. Maybe he was going insane after losing Lu, the guilt of what happened weighing him down, but he trusted she'd handle herself, at least enough to hold it together.

The concept was bugging the hell out of me. What could it be? Was I overthinking things? Could it actually just be a ghost making itself only visible to Veon? If so, why would Veon keep it a secret, since even Nico didn't seem to be aware of it? And was that ghost someone important if it was clinging to Veon alone? Or was Veon just going crazy?

Leo patted him on the shoulder and handed him the leather-bound book. "Awesome. If you pass a hardware store, could you get me some two-by-fours? Oh, and Veon, will the Kako be able to work on the ship even if you're gone?"

"Yeah, if I give them pre-programmed orders to follow your commands. Just remember to be precise, especially if you're trying to get them to do delicate procedures. You want something right, act like you're teaching the subject to a child who knows absolutely nothing."

"I'll go too," Nico offered.

Frank's eye started twitching. Was it just me, or did he seem to be debating between killing Nico or not? Considering everything about Nico, just thinking those thoughts was a suicide mission, not just because of Nico himself, but because Veon would probably kick his ass just because the two boys had a soul-bond. Veon gave an eye roll, and I had a feeling he got the same message that I did.

"Uh…you're good with animals?" Frank asked.

Nico smiled without humor. "Actually, most animals hate me. They can sense death."

"So  _that's_  why my dog and Lu's dogs always hated you, Ve!" I realized.

He gave a face. "I like dogs. Dogs like me. Dogs bark at anyone who comes into the house that doesn't live there, but it's not like they're singling out me. Animals might not like me at first, but they get used to me."

"So the fact that Lu's Chihuahua either avoided you like the plague or barked non-stop at you even once you'd been there for a while?"

"The first part is the death part, the second part was just him being protective.  _Cats_ , now cats and I have an agreement to disagree."

"But there's something about this city…" Nico continued, his expression turning grim. "Lots of death. Restless spirits. One of us would ward off the weaker ones, but still risk those bold comers, and you know they're out there. Veon and I working together should be able to keep them all at bay. Besides, as you noticed, I speak Italian too."

Leo scratched his head. "Lots of death, huh? Personally, I'm trying to avoid lots of death, but you guys have fun!"

Just based on his face, it was clear Frank didn't seem too keen on a trip with the two children of Hades, the ghosts, and the shaggy-cow monsters.

"How about I come?" "I'll go too."

Hazel and I looked to each other. Obviously, Hazel would want to go with her boyfriend, but I  _needed_  to get out of this ship. Besides, where better to send a daughter of Poseidon than the city made of canals?

"How about we take both of you?" Veon suggested. "Four's our usual team size, but if those monsters get agitated, I think we'll need all the help we can get. We can push the limits of the team just this once."

Frank clearly tried to hide how relieved he was at the company, not wanting to offend Nico or Veon, but he gave a glance to Hazel and told her with his eyes, ' _Thank you thank you thank you_.'

Nico stared at the canals, as if wondering what new and interesting forms of evil spirits might be lurking out there. "All right, then. Let's go find the owner of that book."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'War Waging War,' get it? Eh? Eeeeh?
> 
> Oh, naming chapters is a full-time job.


	13. Keto-Blue-Ponies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Response to a review that has important information:  
> (Also warning this is from the past, things with Amalspach have been previously dealt with)
> 
> FocusDownNotHere: Yeah, so about that Audrey thing, Amalspach has yet to stop procrastinating. School sucks and all (we've got a Spanish presentation that we're banging our heads against a wall for), life gets in the way, but I was promised about a month for some stuff on Audrey that Amalspach offered, and…that was three months ago. In all honesty, I write a lot more and have basically no life (and, you know, Amalspach does have a life), so I guess I'm not one to talk, but Amalspach's Sherlock story was updated (along with another one that I haven't gotten around to reading yet, but it's an Elementary story - you know, with more Sherlock, so you can see a trend here) and I'm pretty sure the original idea has now been forgotten. I keep pressing for it, but here we are.
> 
> The message? Go bug Amalspach.
> 
> As for Lucy, I've got a whole story coming about why she's more powerful than any of the other demigods. It relates to her mother being a god of limit breaks, but it goes further than that and I'll be around to it soon. I've been thinking about this ever since I started this long series, and now that we're finally here, I'm trying to get out all the regular normal story content and get to explaining everything I have planned but it's all so overwhelming because I'm so excited and want to get it all right! The whole point of the story is that Zyanya (now Chuck) chose her because she was more powerful and because she was Zenobia's daughter - as explained in the previous chapter. Also, it should be noted that Zenobia was a god who hosted Order before Lucy did, and was someone who Order considered a perfect host - but she's gone now and so Order resorted to her daughter.
> 
> Also there's a second reason standing alone why Audrey's new powers were unlocked in the first story beyond hydrokinesis (that's the fancy term for water-bending), why Emily's gotten stronger by controlling and tapping into people's emotions - also able to understand what people need to be put at ease - why Veon's gotten stronger (you know, before he was crippled with Chuck inside him), and why Kaze learned his ability to turn into air even though he never had that before - remember that little detail from the end of the last story?
> 
> Dropping hints is fun.
> 
> If you can't keep up…I do not blame you. I can only keep track of this because I'm the writer of the story, and what I struggle with is remembering what I've mentioned and what's still a mystery. Keep asking questions and suggestions so that I know where a reader is in the story.
> 
> Hey, look, a really long author's note! This only ever happens in my Final Fantasy XIII story!
> 
> I love responding to reviews. Thank you for all of them!

First Person: Zytaveon

You know, I might've liked Venice if it hadn't been summertime and tourist season. And if the city wasn't overrun with large, hairy creatures. Between the rows of old houses and the canals, the sidewalks were already too narrow for the crowds jostling one another and stopping to take pictures. The monsters only made things worse. They shuffled around with their heads down, bumping into mortals and sniffing the pavement. One seemed to find something it liked at the edge of a canal. It nibbled and licked at a crack between the stones until it dislodged some sort of greenish root. The monster sucked it up happily and shambled along.

"Well, they're plant-eaters," Frank pointed out. "That's good news."

Hazel slipped her hand into his. "Unless they supplement their diet with demigods. Let's hope not."

The two of them sat across from me and Nico in the gondola that Audrey had made out of frozen water. She figured it would be an easier way of getting around as opposed to on land with the monsters and the crowds. There were plenty of boats on the water too, but Audrey was more skilled than any of them at maneuvering the thing, so we could move much faster than any of the others. Despite my initial fear of the seats being ice-cold, they were actually regular temperature. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was sitting on a normal piece of wood.

"Don't you  _dare_  shake the boat," I threatened.

"Aye-aye, Cap'n," She saluted.

Considering there were three children of Hades (Pluto) on the boat, we were basically at her mercy. If we fell in the water, I'm pretty sure Nico and I would have a silent, soul bond agreement to murder her, and Frank and Hazel would probably just freak out and swim to shore.

Frank seemed pleased at holding Hazel's hand. Considering how the guy had been feeling a bit useless recently, it would be good for him to get some field duty. What better motivation than to be protecting his girlfriend? Not that Hazel required his protection. Anybody who'd seen her charging on Arion with her sword drawn would know she could take care of herself. Still, Frank seemed to have peace of mind sitting next to her, imaging he was her bodyguard. If any of these monsters tried to hurt her, Frank would gladly turn into a rhinoceros and push them into the canal. Could he do a rhino? I don't think he's ever tried that before.

" _Over there,_ " Chuck pointed out, lazily thrusting a finger out.

He was lying with his entire torso off the side of the boat, but since he was just a mental image, his body merely floated on the water like it was solid or he was some kind of lily pad - but he didn't make ripples in the water.

" _It's your Frezzeria Street._ "

Nico pointed. "There."

With the two of us in close proximity, our soul bond was at its strongest, nearly allowing us to think the same thoughts at the same time. Nico never said anything about seeing Chuck, never gave any indication of hearing him either, but Nico seemed to gain a sense of intuition as though he knew what the god had said. Either he was a really good actor, or Chuck just influenced him subtly without meaning to, but still kept himself hidden from Nico's radar.

Audrey guided the boat over to the docks he pointed to and we hopped out, the boat melting back into the water of the canal without anyone being the wiser. No one seemed to care much about the magic gondola, but then again, everyone was surrounded by shaggy cow monsters too. The Mist in this area was actually pretty thick around the creatures. Good to know if I needed to borrow some, but that might freak out some tourists if the Mist around even one got too thin. Then again, that might actually be entertaining to see the mortal's reactions to the giant beasts that have been wandering their city without their knowledge.

We turned onto a smaller street, leaving the canal behind. Ahead of us was a small plaza lined with five-story buildings. The area was strangely deserted - as if the mortals could sense it wasn't safe. In the middle of the cobblestone courtyard, a dozen shaggy cow creatures were sniffing around the mossy base of an old stone well.

"A lot of cows in one place," Frank realized.

"Yeah, but look," I said. "Past that archway."

Frank squinted. At the far end of the plaza, a stone archway carved with lions led into a narrow street. Just past the arch, one of the townhouses was painted black - the only black building we'd seen so far in Venice.

"La Casa Nera," Audrey guessed.

Hazel's grip tightened on Frank's hand, her unease evident. "I don't like that plaza. It feels…cold."

Nico and I nodded. We studied the town-house windows, most of which were covered with wooden shutters.

"It's just the lemures," I said. "The neighborhood's filled with them."

"Lemurs?" Frank asked nervously. "I'm guessing you don't mean the furry little guys from Madagascar?"

"Angry ghosts," Nico agreed. "Lemures go back to Roman times. They hang around a lot of Italian cities, but I've never felt so many in one place. My mom told me…" He hesitated. "She used to tell me stories about the ghosts of Venice."

Frank looked curious, but he wisely kept his mouth shut. Hazel gave him a prodding look, like she wanted Nico to get practice talking to people. Maybe it was my soul bond with Nico, but I was on Nico's side here. It was his choice to tell his story, and anyone asking things that were so personal had to be close. Frank was  _not_  close. Not close enough. Not yet.

Sure, sharing could be good, but it could also bring up memories and pain that were best hidden until the wound was healed. One explanation would always lead to more questions, cutting deeper and deeper into the cut until it hurt too much to close again. Nico was already going through a lot, and pushing him was like pushing a tightrope walker to go faster when they didn't have a net. Even when experienced and long since able to maintain their balance, shoving them wasn't going to have some different outcome because of it.

I heard the voices in Frank's head increasing in volume again, the sounds of assault rifles and atom bombs getting louder. Mars and Ares were trying to out-sing each other with "Dixie" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Chuck got in on the action by singing a blaring yet still very good Hymn of the Fayth, singing with a base voice worthy of Ifrit, effectively drowning out the battle noises and the war gods' singing for now. In all honesty, I hoped that his father kept going so that Frank wouldn't do anything stupid like ask Nico about his family life, or worse, his sister.

"Nico, your mom was Italian?" Frank guessed. "She was from Venice?"

Dammit.

Nico nodded reluctantly. "She met Hades here, back in the 1930s. As World War Two got closer, she fled to the U.S. with my sister and me. I mean…Bianca, my other sister. I don't remember much about Italy, but I can still speak the language."

Frank seemed to scramble for a response, but I  _dared_  him to say something wrong and push the matter further so that I could have the excuse to strangle him. He was dealing with  _two_  demigods who'd been pulled out of time, both technically about seventy years older than him.

"Must've been hard on your mom," Frank said gently. "I guess we'll do anything for someone we love."

" ** _Don't act as though you know!_** "

To my surprise, it was both Chuck  _and_  I that thought that together. I liked Frank, I did, and he'd been through a lot ever since we'd met him, his whole life, but comparing it to something like what Nico had gone through? I was biased, I admit, but one way or another, when it came to my family, things got personal. Especially in the life of a demigod, especially in our lives in particular, we had a lot of harsh PTSD. Chuck, I could also sympathize with, and was also connected to. I knew, even without looking too deeply, that he wanted his wife back, he was trying so hard and didn't know what to do. We'd royally F-ed up his plans, and at this point, I had to admit that maybe it really would've been best if I had gone to Tartarus instead of Lu. She was better equipped, sure, but was that really worth the sacrifice?

Nico stared at the cobblestones. "Yeah," He said bitterly. "I guess we will."

I put my hand on his shoulder. Though the physical contact usually would've startled him or made him feel, at the very least, uncomfortable, I was the one person that didn't seem to affect him because of the soul bond. Nico might try to deny it in that tiny corner of his brain, but he knew that I truly did understand what he'd been through and how he felt better than anyone else could. It wasn't like he just trusted  _me_  with his dark secrets or anything; I knew that the soul bond worked both ways and that he had my own dark secrets within him too. He'd never acknowledged Chuck consciously, but he had to know about him to some extent. The secrets between us were no different than the secrets between ourselves.

With a simple look, I made him shove those thoughts to the back of his head. It was no use worrying about what he'd done in the past or who he thought he was. It wasn't as though it was as big a deal as he seemed to believe that it was. Then again, this was a different time for him, a scary world that he didn't feel he belonged in. Baring his insecurities and self-doubt, Nico was still pretty strong considering his situation. Luckily, it seemed Frank had decided he'd gone as far as he dared with the personal questions.

"So, the lemures…" He swallowed. "How do we avoid them?"

"We're already on it," Nico said. "We're sending out the message that they should stay away and ignore us. Hopefully, that's enough. Veon also has the advantage of threatening them with the soul chains, force them to go to face judgment in the underworld."

Hazel pursed her lips. "Let's get going," She suggested.

Halfway across the piazza, everything went wrong - but it had nothing to do with ghosts. We were skirting the well in the middle of the square, trying to give the cow monsters some distance, when Hazel stumbled on a loose piece of cobblestone. Frank caught her, but six or seven of the big gray beasts turned to look at us. Frank glimpsed a glowing green eye under one's mane, and instantly he was hit with a wave of nausea. The creatures made deep throbbing sounds in their throats like angry foghorns.

"Nice cows," Frank murmured, putting himself in front in an act of shielding us from the monsters. "Guys, I'm thinking we should back out of here slowly."

"That's _a bad idea!_ " Chuck exclaimed.

"I'm such a klutz," Hazel whispered. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault," I said. "Look at your feet."

Frank glanced down and caught his breath. Under our shoes, the paving stones were moving - spiky plant tendrils were pushing up from the cracks. Nico stepped back, but the roots snaked out in his direction, trying to follow. The tendrils got thicker, exuding a steamy green vapor that smelled of boiled cabbage.

"These roots seem to like demigods," Audrey noted.

Hazel's hand drifted to her sword hilt. "And the cow creatures like the roots."

The entire herd was now looking in our direction, making foghorn growls and stamping their hooves. I felt I understood animals well enough to get the message: ' _You are standing on our food. That makes you enemies._ ' There were far too many monsters to fight, even with the five of us, and if Frank had gotten sick from just the barest glimpse at their eyes, I had a feeling looking at them directly would result in a lot worse than nauseous.

"Don't meet their eyes," Frank warned. "I'll distract them-"

"Not alone," Audrey said. "That kind of bravery is just idiotic, Frank."

"I'll get Hazel and Nico out of here and then come back for you."

"How about you just take us  _all?_ "

"I don't think I could sustain all four of you in the tar at the same time without risking the Kako eating you up and making sure you never come out again - unless as more of my Kako. I can control them well, but they're still monsters that want more of their ranks."

The creatures tensed, ready to attack.

"All right, screw it, go!" Audrey shouted, drawing her sword.

I grabbed the shoulders of my two siblings and we melted into the tar. I tried to get us as far away as I could, but Hazel and Nico weren't compatible with the tar, they couldn't stay under that long. If they were literally swallowed up by the tar, I had until they lost their breath - which wasn't very long - and if I turned them  _into_  tar, they also didn't have very long because their souls were as vulnerable as when we shadow traveled.

We came out at a random place, but as they were recovering I realized that we had come out not far from the herd, outside of the ring of them, but not far enough that some of them didn't notice where we'd gone.

"Nico, take Hazel and run!" I demanded.

Before I could get Nico's response, I grabbed my sword and charged into the masses that were now following us. I managed to avoid looking any in the eye as I swung to where I'd assume they were. I went off sound and instinct, and Chuck's shouting " _Behind you~!_ " or " _To your right~!_ " in a sing-song voice. Frank looked like he was trying to concentrate, but he was having trouble with Mars and Ares screaming in his ear. Chuck said something about being too old for this and waved the two war gods off. Audrey was stuck protecting him while he came up with a plan, putting up a wall of water to block the emerald-green gas billowing from the nostrils of the monsters. Frank looked around frantically before glancing up at one of the town-house balconies and seeing a stone carving - the symbol of Venice.

The next instant, Frank was a full-grown lion, roaring in challenge before he sprang from the middle of the monster herd and landed eight meters away, on top of the old stone well. The monsters growled in reply, but with the attention drawn away from her, Audrey spun her water around her in a hurricane of sharp ice blades and had it expand like the shockwave from an explosion, taking out a good deal of the monsters and turning them to dust. Frank slashed the first two monsters that came at him to dust with his claws, sinking his fangs into a third one's throat and tossing it aside. I counted seven left in front of me alone, a few around Audrey, and a couple with Frank. The three of us were spread around the herd, and though we were outnumbered, we had a good chance of making it.

Frank let out a roar and the monsters edged away. They had greater numbers, but they knew how dangerous we were, having sent a large group of them to Tartarus already, and Frank was a top-of-the-line predator right now. He pressed his advantage and leaped off the well, still baring his fangs. The herd began to back off. Still, Audrey and Frank were in dangerous places and would have to break through the lines to get back to us. Frank kept most of the attention on him, as he was the bigger threat in the monster's eyes - being a lion and seemingly worse than a demigod - and he began maneuvering around them to get back over this way. Audrey took the opportunity to sneak around behind the distracted shaggy cow things and circle round the opposite way.

They were doing all right, until Frank took his first step backwards towards the arch. One of the cows, either the bravest or the stupidest, took that as a sign of weakness. It charged and blasted Frank in the face with green gas. He slashed the monster to dust, but the damage was already done. He tried not to breathe, but the fur was burning off his nose, his eyes were stinging, and he was quickly reduced to being half-blind and dizzy. Maybe Kaze would've been a good idea to bring if he could disperse the clouds of poison.

The other cows knew Frank was incapacitated and a couple more began to charge, but Audrey jumped in, summoning two whips of water from the water that had dispersed into the air during her hurricane blast. She swung them around to slice at the cows around her, moving the whips in wide arcs to get them from a distance without having to risk looking at them.

I ran over to Frank, now back in human form. "Frank!  _Frank!_ "

He tried to focus, retching and stumbling. His face felt like it was peeling off, and in front of him, the green cloud of gas floated between us and the herd. Audrey suddenly landed in front of us (having taken to the air with her water abilities to avoid the gas being shot her way) and summoned her water back to her bottle. Her sword was out, and she sliced at two more cows that had been coming our way.

"More seem to be gathering!" She announced.

I looked around and saw she was right. More of the cows had started filtering into the area, maybe coming to their friend's aid. A lot of them were holding back, but as their numbers began to increase again, some of them were getting bold. I looked back over to Nico, who had his Stygian sword drawn. At his feet, two puddles of darkness stained the pavement - no doubt the remains of some of the cow monsters that had gone after them since they were fleeing. And Hazel…she was propped against the wall behind Nico. And she wasn't moving.

"Dammit!" I hissed.

We rushed over to them, Audrey and my Kako covering our retreat. The Kako began to form underneath some of the cow monsters, sucking them down quickly, while Audrey sliced her sword at any that came too close. Running to Hazel and Nico must've seemed like a sign of our weakness, and the cows were trying to make a charge.

Frank was the fastest to get there, forgetting about the monster herd. He ran past Nico and grabbed Hazel's shoulders. Her head slumped against her chest.

"She got a blast of green gas right in the face," Nico said miserably. "I…I wasn't fast enough."

"I shouldn't have left you alone," I said. "Don't think this is all your fault."

But Nico just looked down silently. Great, he must've taken that comment as though he couldn't handle himself without me. Meanwhile, Frank looked ready to drop-kick both of us into the nearest canal despite his normal fear. Maybe that wasn't fair, but Frank didn't seem to care. And neither did the war gods screaming in his head.

"We need to get back to the ship," Frank said.

I wished Lu was with us. She would've been able to heal Hazel on the spot. I wasn't sure if regular nectar or ambrosia would do Hazel any good - those were for physical injuries like cuts or broken bones. They would be less effective in healing something like poison. I remembered that Kaze had learned some herbal healing from his sister back when they'd been on the run together. Maybe he knew something about this kind of poison.

The cow monster herd prowled cautiously just beyond the archway. They had been bellowing their foghorn cries, and that was what had alerted the others and called for reinforcements, I realized. Before, only a few of them had been bellowing here and there, but now the entire herd seemed to be calling all together, increasing the volume and therefore calling more of them from farther away. We'd probably have the entirety of Venice against us soon.

"We'll never make it on foot," Nico declared. "Audrey, can you-?"

"I can probably carry all of you, but it won't be fast," She warned. "Remember that hydrokinesis is literally floating water with my willpower alone. I'd be lifting 500 plus pounds with my mind alone to carry us all - considering all of you weigh, at the very least, more than 100 pounds. I can't turn you all to water - not in my power set - so I'd have to carry your weight with whatever water I have. Dammit, I  _knew_  I should've gotten a second water bottle! If we can get over the canals, maybe, but-"

"Hazel is the first priority, don't worry about the rest of us!" Nico snapped. "Can you carry just her?"

"Yeah, no problem!"

"Does Kaze know anything about poisons?!" He asked me.

"I don't know, but he knows a lot about herbs and on-the-go medicine, so I'd assume so," I said.

"Veon, use the tar to get back to the ship to help translate! You can go through alone without any risk of suffocating or killing the rest of us. Audrey, get Hazel to the ship as fast as you can - once you get over the canals, you should be able to pick up speed!"

"What about you two?!" Audrey demanded.

"We'll run and take shelter. If we can just distract the herd with some roots and escape to some building high up where the roots can't grow, we'll be able to hold out. Once things calm down, we'll make our way over to you or you can send a rescue party if we aren't back by a sundown. Got it?!"

It sounded like a good plan in theory, but it was unlikely that Nico or Frank would be able to hold out, as the herd was just growing bigger. They wouldn't be able to outrun them, and any building they went into would probably be brought down if these things got too agitated. They would want to avoid mortal casualties, so that plan was broken at best. I would have to inform Kaze of what happened, then teleport back to help them quickly, and just hope that Kaze didn't need any further translations.

"Your friends can't help you," A voice behind us said. "They don't know the cure."

We all turned. Standing in the threshold of the Black House was a young man in jeans and a denim shirt. He had curly black hair and a friendly smile, though I doubted he was friendly. Probably wasn't even human.

But at the moment, no one seemed to care.

"Can you cure her?" Frank demanded.

"Of course," The man said. "But you'd better hurry inside. I think you've angered every katobleps in Venice."

We didn't have much time to think. The herd had doubled in population density, and they were no longer intimidated by Audrey's ability, nor was my tar forming fast enough to keep them all back. We had no guarantee that Kaze knew a cure, we didn't want to leave Nico and Frank behind, and language communication was crucial if we thought Kaze had even the slightest chance of curing Hazel. If this guy lived in Venice with these things and he said he had a cure, it was our best bet.

We turned and sprinted, the cows taking that as the sign to charge after us full force. We barely made it inside. As soon as our host threw the bolts, the cow monsters bellowed and slammed into the door, making it shudder on its hinges.

"Oh, they can't get in," The man in denim promised. "You're safe now!"

" _Safe?_ " Frank demanded. "Haze is  _dying!_ "

Our host frowned, as if he didn't appreciate Frank ruining his good mood. "Yes, yes. Bring her this way."

Chuck appeared and began examining the room like it was an art gallery. As we followed the man further into the building, Chuck ran his hand across the things we passed like he was deciding what to steal. Frank carried Hazel as we walked, and though Nico offered to help, Frank didn't need it. He was pumped up on adrenaline, and Hazel weighed nothing to him. She was shivering, so at least we knew she was alive, but her skin was cold, and her lips had taken on a greenish tinge. I sensed her life being sucked away very quickly, as poison commonly worked, but this was video-game levels of poison status, taking her life much faster than any regular poison.

Meanwhile, Frank's eyes still burned from the monster's breath, his lungs feeling like held inhaled a flaming cabbage. He didn't seem to have gotten as much in his system as her, and I wondered how bad the cow had to have gotten her. It was possible Frank's transformation into a lion had something to do with his tolerance, but it didn't really matter. Frank was probably wishing that he could take her place if it meant saving her.

The voices of Mars and Ares yelled in his head, urging him to kill me, Nico, Audrey, the man in denim, and anyone else he could find. Chuck's mental image punched Frank in the head, but Frank didn't react to it. The voices of Mars/Ares did grunt from the attack and merely grumbled their responses.

The house's front room was some sort of greenhouse. The walls were lined with tables of plant trays under fluorescent lights, the air smelled of fertilizer solution. Maybe Venetians did their gardening inside, since they were surrounded by water instead of soil?

" _Ah, it smells like life and growth,_ " Chuck hummed. " _I've always liked gardens. Minus when Demeter is accompanying me. She never shuts up and lets me just enjoy my visit._ "

The back room looked like a combination garage, college dorm, and computer lab. Against the left wall glowed a bank of servers and laptops, their screensavers flashing pictures of plowed fields and tractors. Against the right wall sat a single bed, a messy desk, and an open wardrobe filled with extra denim clothes and a stack of farm implements, like pitchforks and rakes. The back wall was a huge garage door, and parked next to it was a red-and-gold chariot with an open carriage and a single axle. Sprouting from the sides of the driver's box were giant feathery wings, and wrapped around the rim of the left wheel, a spotted python snored loudly.

"I didn't know pythons could snore," Audrey muttered.

"Set your friend here," Said the man in denim.

Frank placed Hazel gently on the bed. He removed her sword and tried to make her comfortable, but she was as limp as a scarecrow. Her complexion definitely had a greenish tint.

"What were those cow things?" Frank demanded. "What did they do to her?"

"Katoblepones, singular: katobleps."

"Katoblepones!" Audrey blurted. " _That's_  what they're called! I was so close…! In English, it means  _down-looker_ , called that because-"

"They're always looking down!" Nico smacked his forehead. "Right! I remember reading about them."

Frank glared at them. " _Now_  you remember?!"

Nico hung his head almost as low as a katobleps. "I, uh…used to play this stupid card game when I was younger. Mythomagic. The katobleps was one of the monster cards."

Frank blinked. "I played Mythomagic. I never saw that card."

"It was in the  _Africanus Extreme_  expansion pack," I explained.

"Oh."

Our host cleared his throat. "Are you all done, ah, ' _geeking out_ ,' as they say?"

"Right, sorry," Nico muttered. "Anyway, Katoblepones have poison breath and a poison gaze. I thought they only lived in Africa."

The man in denim shrugged. "That's their native land, yes."

"They were accidentally imported to Venice hundreds of years ago," Audrey explained.

"You've heard of Saint Mark?"

Frank looked like he wanted to move on and didn't see how this was relevant, but if our host could cure Hazel, it was best to go along with him. "Saints? They're not part of Greek mythology."

" _He should look into Egyptian mythology,_ " Chuck said. " _Honestly, you people think that only your religion exists out there in the world._ "

"Saint Mark is the patron saint of this city," Audrey said. "He died in Egypt a long time ago. When the Venetians became powerful…well, the relics of saints were a big tourist attraction back in the Middle Ages. The Venetians decided to steal Saint Mark's remains and bring them to their big church of San Marco. They smuggled out his body in a barrel of pickled pig parts. That was really what made me remember that story when I was looking up the history of Venice."

"That's…disgusting," Frank declared.

"Yes," The denim guy agreed with a smile. "The point is, you can't do something like that and not have consequences. The Venetians unintentionally smuggled something  _else_  out of Egypt - the Katoblepones. They came here aboard that ship and have been breeding like rats ever since. They love the magical poison roots that grow here - swampy, foul-smelling plants that creep up from the canals. It makes their breath even  _more_  poisonous! Usually, the monsters ignore mortals, but  _demigods_ …especially demigods who get in their way-"

"Got it," Frank snapped. "Can you cure her?"

The man shrugged. "Possibly."

" _Possibly?_ "

Frank looked on the verge of throttling him. He put his hand under Hazel's nose, but couldn't feel her breath. "Nico, Veon, please tell me she's doing that death-trance thing, like you did in the bronze jar."

I grimaced. "That requires the pomegranate seeds from our step-mom's garden, and we're all out."

"I don't know if Hazel can even do that," Nico admitted. "Her dad is technically Pluto, not Hades, so-"

"Hades!" Cried our host. He backed away, staring at Nico with distaste. "So  _that's_  what I smell. Children of the Underworld? If I'd know  _that_ , I would never have let you in!"

" _Yo, these guys are great-!_ " Chuck began, but since Frank couldn't hear him, he interrupted.

"Hazel's a good person! You promised you would  _help_  her!"

"Uh, Frank-!" Audrey began cautiously.

Gee, maybe Emily would've been a better option to bring.

"I did  _not_  promise!" Our host hissed.

Nico drew his sword. "She's my sister," He growled. "I don't know  _who_  you are, but if you can cure her, you  _have_  to, or so help me by the River Styx-"

"Hey, threatening won't help!" I protested.

The guy rolled his eyes at Nico, seemingly ignoring that I had even said anything. "Oh, blah, blah, blah!"

He waved his hand, and I felt something popping out from inside me. Before I knew what was happening, I couldn't feel my limbs anymore and everything went white.


	14. An Army of Katoblepones for a Python

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am alive!
> 
> I have been away for so long!
> 
> Amalspach has pulled through!
> 
> (BTW Amalspach, I left the stuff you gave me mostly unedited, I swear! I just added a fight scene, a bit about Kaze since you forgot he existed, and a few other lines/paragraphs).
> 
> So yeah, I've been reading and editing (minor) stuff that Amalspach's given me, writing a Malec one-shot, continuing my FFXIII story, and taking PSATs. So yeah, life's fun.
> 
> So much information to get out. All the stuff in this chapter is mine, but the first part of the next chapter is Amalspach's work (with very small additions).
> 
> In return for my absence, have a double update. Yea!
> 
> I was gonna try and do a 'My kingdom for a horse' thing for the chapter title, but it just didn't work out, sadly.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> :)

First Person: Audrey

Where the two sons of Hades had been standing were two potted plants - one about five feet tall and the other nearly a foot taller - drooping green leaves, tufts of silk, and a dozen ripe yellow ears of corn between them.

"There," The man huffed, wagging his finger at the smaller plant. "Children of Hades can't order me around! You should talk less and listen more. Now at least you have  _ears_."

Frank stumbled against the bed. "What did you…why…?"

I resisted the urge to draw my weapons, but had the water in my bottle twist the lid open to be ready at any moment. Upon seeing the sudden transformation, my instant reaction was to put my hand to my waist and my weapons, while Frank's - admittedly more natural - reaction had drawn our host's attention. He raised an eyebrow at Frank, and the demigod made a squeaky noise that wasn't very courageous. We'd been so focused on Hazel, we nearly forgot the whole reason we'd come to Venice in the first place.

"You're a god," Frank remembered.

"Triptolemus," He introduced, bowing. "My friends call me Trip, so don't call me that. And if you two are more children of Hades-"

"Mars! Child of Mars!" "Poseidon! Hades doesn't get around  _that_  much!"

Triptolemus sniffed. "Well…not much better. But perhaps you deserve to be something better than a corn plant. Sorghum? Sorghum is very nice."

"Uh…I like grapes more," I muttered.

"Wait!" Frank pleaded. "We're here on a friendly mission. We brought a gift." Very slowly, he reached into his backpack and brought out the leather-bound book. "This belongs to you?"

"My almanac!" Triptolemus grinned and seized the book. He thumbed through the pages and started bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Oh, this is fabulous! Where did you find it?!"

I remembered the deal about not mentioning the dwarfs. "In Bologna. There were these terrible monsters that wanted it. We risked our lives, but we knew this was important to you. So could you maybe, you know, turn Nico and Veon back to normal and heal Hazel?"

"Hmm?"

Trip looked up from his book. He'd been happily reciting lines to himself - something about turnip-planting schedules. I wondered what would happen if Ella the harpy were here. She would get along great with this guy.

"Oh,  _heal_  them?" Triptolemus chuckled disapprovingly. "I'm grateful for the book, of course. I can definitely let  _you_  go free, son of Mars and daughter of Poseidon. But I have a long-standing problem with Hades. After all, I own my godly powers to Demeter!"

Frank looked like he was scrambling to remember who Demeter was. She was one of the 12 Olympians and the main goddess of agriculture. Surely Frank can't be  _that_  uneducated. Just because he was Roman didn't mean he had an excuse not to know what the Greek version of Ceres is. I mean, since the Greeks came  _before_  the Romans. Hell, I know off the top of my head that Demeter's Roman form was Ceres.

"The plant goddess," I reminded him. "She didn't like Hades because he kidnapped her daughter Persephone, blah, blah, blah, pomegranate, blah, blah, blah, six months of winter, blah, blah, blah."

"Right, Proserpine-"

"Persephone," Trip corrected. "I prefer the Greek, if you don't mind."

" ** _Kill him!_** " An echo in my head screamed.

" ** _I love this guy!_** " Another yelled back. " ** _Kill him anyway!_** "

I felt a stinging in my head as though I'd burped up some soda. I held my nose, as though trying to put pressure on the pain even though it felt like it was in the center of my head, and I heard an echo start to grow a bit louder and clearer.

" _-even worse than the boy, but it looks like I can't overwhelm you if I put a small amount of myself in. Hey! Girlie! Can you see me?!_ "

I looked up as my vision cleared (I guess it had become blurry at some point) and saw Veon standing in front of me. Except he was wearing all white? His face seemed older and more mature, almost to the point of being hard to stare at. Actually, no, he was just plain hard to stare at. It was like staring at a really bright light - like when you have your eyes dilated at the optometrist and then they shine a super bright light into your eyes like a jerk. It almost felt like my eyes were burning and naturally didn't want to stare in his direction. I tried to look at him, but my eyes began to water and I had to turn away. Even when he wasn't in my peripheral vision, I felt his presence and knew that I didn't want to turn his way.

" _Well, better than nothing._ "

"Okay…Hades kidnapped Persephone," Frank continued.

"Exactly!" Trip said.

"So…Persephone a friend of yours?"

" _Ha! As if!_ " Veon laughed.

Trip's eyes seemed to wander to him begrudgingly for a moment, but he didn't retaliate. "I was just a mortal prince back then. Persephone wouldn't have noticed me. But when her mother, Demeter, went searching for her, scouring the whole earth, not many people would help her. Hecate lit her way at night her torches, Mr. C pointed her in the direction of the Underworld-"

"Santa Claus?" Frank asked in confusion.

Trip gave a face. " _Chaos_ , you idiot. Capital 'C,' big Primordial guy? But he-"

" _She, now,_ " Veon corrected.

"-she, now, doesn't like it when we use her full name. Those two say it's personal and we should use nicknames. Somehow, to them, nicknames are less personal than full names. I won't claim to understand it. In any case, when Demeter came to my part of Greece, I gave her a place to stay. I comforted her, gave her a meal, and offered my assistance. I didn't know she was a goddess at the time, but my good deed paid off. Later, Demeter rewarded me by making me a god of farming!"

"Wow," Frank said. "Farming. Congratulations."

"I know! Pretty awesome, right? Anyway, Demeter never got along with Hades, so naturally, you know, I have to side with my patron goddess."

" _You know, it's not like Persephone was screaming at Hades to take her home,_ " Veon pointed out. " _She took her kidnapping like a champ. She was pretty calm when she was taken to the Underworld Palace and then happily had dinner with him so they got to know each other. By the time Demeter finally got there, her daughter had eaten those pomegranate seeds willingly. They were quite a cute couple._ "

"Children of Hades - forget it!" Trip continued. "In fact, one of them - this Scythian king named Lynkos? When I tried to teach his countrymen about farming, he killed my right python!"

"Your… _right_  python?" Frank asked.

Trip marched over to his winged chariot and hopped in. He pulled a lever, and the wings began to flap. The spotted python on the left wheel opened his eyes and started to writhe, coiling around the axle like a spring. The chariot whirred into motion, but the right wheel stayed in place, so Triptolemus spun in circles, the chariot beating its wings and bouncing up and down like a defective marry-go-round.

"You see?" He said as he spun. "No good! Ever since I lost my right python, I haven't been able to spread the word about farming - at least not in person. Now I have to resort to giving online courses."

"What?"

As soon as Frank asked, I knew that we were going to regret it. Trip hopped off the chariot while it was still spinning, the python slowing to a stop and going back to snoring. Trip jogged over to the line of computers, tapping the keyboards and causing the screens to wake up, displaying a Web site in maroon and gold, with a picture of a happy farmer in a toga and a John Deere cap, standing with his bronze scythe in a field of wheat.

"Triptolemus Farming University!" He announced proudly. "In just six weeks, you can get your bachelor's degree in the exciting and vibrant career of the future - farming!"

"Wow, just six weeks?" I asked, trying not to sound too sarcastic but also trying not to sound like I was interested in signing up.

Gods tended to jump to conclusions like that whenever you tried complimenting them to save your life and/or the lives of your friends. Farming was useful, don't get me wrong, but not really what I planned to go to college for.

"I know! It's incredible! It's working well enough for now, but being able to ride my chariot would be so much more efficient."

Frank looked like he was debating between being desperate and being impatient. He didn't care about this crazy god, or his snake-powered chariot, or his online degree program, but Hazel was turning greener by the moment, Nico and Veon were corn plants, and we were strong, but taking on a god, even an agricultural one, wasn't a challenge we wanted to take up.

"Look," Frank said. "We  _did_  bring you the almanac, and my friends are really nice. They're not like those other children of Hades you've met. So if there's any way-"

"Oh!" Triptolemus snapped his fingers. "I see where you're going!"

Frank and I exchanged a nervous glance. Remember that thing about gods jumping to conclusions while you were trying to save your life and/or the lives of your friends? "Uh…you do?"

"Absolutely! If I cure your friend Hazel and return the other ones, Nicolas and Zebra-Violin."

Veon's apparent ghost coughed into his fist. " _Nicolo and Zytaveon._ "

"Nico and Veon," I corrected.

"Tomato potato."

"Uh, that's not…you know what, nevermind."

"If I return them to normal and cure your friend Hazel…"

Frank hesitated. "Yes?"

"Then in exchange, you stay with me and take up farming! A child of Mars and one of Poseidon as my apprentices? It's perfect! What spokesman you'll be. We can beat swords into plowshares and have so much fun!"

"Uh…actually…" Frank began, scrambling for a plan.

I heard those voices from before screaming things like, " ** _Swords!_** " " ** _Guns!_** " " ** _Massive ka-booms!_** "

I'd assume that Frank understood that if we declined Trip's offer we'd probably offend the guy and end up as sorghum, or wheat, or some other cash crop.

" _How 'bout you just fix that thing?_ " Veon's ghost suggested. I doubted that he was actually Veon, but I had no other idea what to call him.

He jabbed a finger back towards the chariot. " _He wants that thing fixed to go do his farming thing, and for some reason, he's either too lazy or weak to go out and get a damn python. Fix that and he'll probably be eternally grateful. If not, then you can probably beat the rest of his payment out of him until he submits in fear. Thing about gods like him, you come off as intimidating, they'll be at your mercy in seconds - forget about being gods, you know? Fear tactics work wonders. Granted, I think the war god's kid has already proven to be a wimp, so that won't work now._ "

"I have a better offer!" I blurted. "We can fix that!"

Trip's smile melted. "Fix…my chariot?"

Frank hadn't even been able to figure out a pair of Chinese handcuffs before, and could barely change the batteries in a TV remote without asking the nearest person girl for help (since he was too mortified to admit his ineptitude to any of the guys). Fixing a magical chariot seemed like a little too much for him to handle, but it seemed simple enough. The problem laid in the missing python. Triptolemus had said that his problem came when that Ly-dude killed the python, and the remaining python on the left wheel was the reason it kept going in circles. Unless the thing got some rust from lack of use - and Trip had just demonstrated its ability a minute ago - the thing just needed a python.

Granted, getting a python on short notice was easier said than done, but we needed a plan, and it seemed a lot simpler than if we had to deal with doing mechanical things. I was only useful on the Argo II because we'd had to repair the thing so many damn times that at this point, I had learned the basics at the very least. But I knew next to nothing about chariots - harnessing up a horse to one, yeah, but not the chariot itself. The thing might've seemed simple, but it was the chariot of a god. Who knows how that thing worked?

But it was our only chance. Even if Frank and I managed to get out alive, we couldn't just leave the others here, and even if we got backup from the others, dealing with a god would be stupid. He could just snap and probably turn all of us into plants and the ship into some giant potato. The chariot was the only thing that Trip might actually be willing to work with us with if we helped him fix it, and it was our best chance at actually getting something out of this encounter.

"We'll go find a way to fix the chariot," I proposed. "In return, you fix our friends, let us go in peace, and…"

"And give us whatever aid you can to defeat Gaea's forces," Frank finished.

The final thing admittedly sounded like it was worth a lot more than just a chariot - especially with our healed friends and peaceful exit added on top - but gods and monsters that we faced always had something they loved more than anything and were willing to do anything for. Everything had a weakness, and if Trip cared about anything, he cared about that chariot enough that our requests wouldn't have seemed like anything he couldn't handle, especially if we threw in a little praise as well. Gods loved to be praised.

Triptolemus laughed. "What makes you think I can aid you with  _that?_ "

Frank paled, as though realizing what a bad idea his suggestion was.

"Hecate told us so," I said firmly. "She sent us here. She…she decided that Hecate and Veon were some of her favorites."

Now the tides had turned and the color drained from  _Trip's_  face. "Hecate?"

I hoped that Hecate wasn't going to be mad at us instead, but if Triptolemus and Hecate were both allies of Demeter, maybe that would convince Trip to help. Not to mention Hecate was described as one of the more powerful and well-respected gods.

"The goddess guided us to your almanac in Bologna. She wanted us to return it to you because…well, she must've known you had some knowledge that would help us get through the House of Hades in Epirus."

Trip nodded slowly. "Yes, I see. I know why Hecate sent you to me. Very well, daughter of Poseidon, son of Mars. Go find a way to fix my chariot. If you succeed, I will do all you ask. If not…"

"We know," Frank grumbled. "Our friends die."

"Yes!" Trip exclaimed cheerfully. "And you'll make a lovely patch of sorghum! Now, run along. I won't set a time limit, however, your little friend there might prove to be a very useful hourglass, don't you agree?"

With that, he shoved us out the door. Frank stumbled as he came out, collapsing against the door behind him, overcome with guilt. Fortunately, the katoblepones had cleared off, or he might've just sat there and let them trample him. He must've felt he deserved nothing better, having left Hazel inside, dying and defenseless, at the mercy of a crazy farmer god.

" ** _Kill farmers!_** " That voice from before screamed in my head.

" ** _Return to the legion and fight Greeks!_** " The other said. " ** _What are we doing here?_** "

" ** _Killing farmers!_** "

"Shut up!" Frank yelled aloud. "Both of you!"

" _Yes, please, finally. The boy realizes that he has the most power when it comes to shutting up his stupid father,_ " The image of Veon muttered.

A couple of old ladies with shopping bags shuffled past, giving Frank a strange look, muttering something in Italian that my Spanish 3 mind seemed to be able to  _sort of_  translate about a crazy kid and what we're coming to these days.

Wait, so Frank could hear those voices too but he couldn't see or hear the Veon…thing? What was he supposed to be? Triptolemus definitely heard him, even if the real Veon was now a corn plant, and though he never directly spoke to him without talking to us in the middle.

"Okay, okay," I interrupted. "What is going on?"

Frank sighed and closed his eyes, slumping against the wall. "My dad has been screaming in my head for ages now."

"Your dad?"

"Both of them. Ever since we escaped from Rome."

" _That_  long?!"

"Yeah."

"And…Veon?"

"He knew about it, sure. You're one of the hardest working people I know, and you're doing so much to keep the team together. I'm sorry I didn't want to tell you but…"

I shook my head and sat down next to him against the wall. "It's fine, Frank. I'm just concerned about your wellbeing, so as long as you were getting help from whoever knew, I'm okay with it. Veon handled the battle strategies and Emily the emotional help, right?"

"Yeah."

I looked up to Veon, who was standing on the other side of Frank. He leaned against the wall above him and pointed down to Frank, shaking his head and putting his hand to his ear. " _This poor sod's ears would bleed if I let him hear me. Call me Chuck. Don't let him know I'm here. I hate it that_ you _know that I'm here at all._ "

I considered how I would speak to, uh…Chuck, and since Frank couldn't see him, I figured that he was in my mind. I tried directing my thoughts at him, similar to when I talked to aquatic animals. " ** _Who are you? Why are you in my head?_** "

" _I was in little Zytaveon's head before, since he's the only one who can handle my entire essence within him. Since he's now stuck as a plant, I went for the next best thing. I only put a small part of myself within you, but you're still at risk. By the end of the day, you'll probably look like something out of The Walking Dead. I guess if I toss you into the canal, the water might help heal you and buy you time, but…_ "

" ** _Okay, so what do you want? I'd prefer_** **not** ** _to look like a rotting flesh monster and hopefully not die from it too._** "

" _Ah, quick to the point. Good. Now, you're going to need a python to fix that chariot._ "

" ** _Are you offering any bright ideas on how to do that?_** " I asked hopefully.

" _Oh, I don't have the strength to give you anything, especially in your puny body. You're going to have to ask the screaming loose cannon that's in this Canadian right here._ "

He patted Frank on the head, who was staring miserably at Hazel's cavalry sword, lying at his feet next to his backpack. He was probably considering going to get Leo's help to fix the chariot - but it was even simpler than that. All we needed was a serpent. Frank could turn himself into a python - I'd heard that he'd woken up as one this morning. But I don't think he wanted to spend the rest of his life turning the wheel of a farmer's chariot, and we needed him for the quest. Then again, I knew that Frank would do anything for Hazel if he thought it was the only way.

But then there was Mars/Ares that Chuck was saying that we should ask for help. Did he have any connections to snakes? I think I remembered that Mars's sacred animal was the wild boar, not any kind of serpent.

" _Ever heard of Cadmus?_ " Chuck asked. " _He killed their dragon. Oh, they love telling that story._ "

"Cadmus…?" I muttered aloud.

"Cadmus?" Frank asked.

"Wasn't there something about a Cadmus relating to a serpent? Oh! The demigod Cadmus had slain a dragon that happened to be a child of Ares, right? How Ares had ended up with a dragon for a son, I don't think I wanted to know - but as punishment for the dragon's death-"

"Ares turned Cadmus into a snake," Frank finished. "So you can turn your enemies into snakes. That's what I need. I need to find an enemy. Then I need you to turn him into a snake."

" ** _You think I would do that for you?!_** " Ares roared. " ** _You have not proven your worth!_** "

" ** _Only the greatest hero could ask such a boon,_** " Mars agreed. " ** _A hero like Romulus!_** "

" ** _Too Roman! Diomedes!_** "

" ** _Never! That coward fell to Heracles!_** "

"A  _lot_  of people fell to Heracles," I reminded them. "Hera's to blame for sending Heracles to the guy who ordered him to capture the Mares of Diomedes which just so happened to require feeding Diomedes to them. I mean, if we  _want_  we can think about the one from the Trojan War."

" ** _Too Greek!_** " Mars protested. " ** _Horatius!_** "

"Wait, you can hear them?" Frank asked.

I shrugged. "For now, I guess. I just started hearing them, and I assume it's only temporary with-"

Chuck coughed into his fist.

"-this stupid quest that Trip-toe-lemur wants us to do if we wanna save the others."

Frank sighed. "Horatius. Fine. If that's what it takes, I'll prove I'm as good as Horatius. Uh…what did he do?"

"Didn't he single-handedly face an entire army of barbarians and keep them from crossing the Tiber?"

"Yeah. By giving his fellow Romans time to finish their defenses, he'd saved the Republic."

" ** _Venice is overrun,_** " Mars said. " ** _As Rome was about to be. Cleanse it!_** "

" ** _Destroy them all!_** " Ares agreed. " ** _Put them to the sword! Your little friend can help get the army right in front of you - no weeding them out slowly like a wimp!_** "

" ** _Take on the masses_** **all at once!** " Mars encouraged, and I had a feeling that these guys were looking forward to Frank kicking the bucket and were placing bets on how gruesome his death would be.

And if he managed to actually take all the monsters on at once, well bonus, I guess.

Frank concentrated and the voices quieted, muffled as he shoved them away to the back of his mind. He looked to his hands, seemingly amazed that his hands weren't trembling. I suppose having a specific goal  _was_  the best way to keep a level head. He was like Veon that way - he knew exactly what he needed to do, he didn't know how he would pull it off, the odds of dying were excellent, and yet he was more determined than ever. Hazel's life was depending on him - and I had a feeling that leaving Nico and Veon as plants wouldn't make them very happy campers.

The two of us stood, Frank strapping Hazel's sword to his belt and morphing his backpack into a quiver and bow. We looked to each other before nodding, and we raced toward the piazza where we'd fought the cow monsters.

Okay, so, let me explain. The plan had three phases: dangerous, really dangerous, and insanely dangerous.

Frank and I stopped at the old stone well. No katoblepones in sight. Frank drew Hazel's sword and used it to pry up some cobblestones, unearthing a big tangle of spiky roots. The tendrils unfurled, exuding their stinky green fumes as they crept towards our feet. In the distance, a katobleps's foghorn moan filled the air. Others joined in from all different directions. I wasn't sure how the monsters could tell he was harvesting their favorite food - maybe they just had an excellent sense of smell.

We had to move fast now. Frank sliced off a long cluster of vines and laced them through one of his belt loops, trying to ignore the burning and itching in his hands. Soon he had a glowing, stinking lasso of poisonous weeds. Hooray. I summoned my trident and stabbed it into some of the vines, basically turning it into a farming pitchfork. At least it kept the vines at a distance and allowed me more mobility.

"I'll help round them up," I said. "Are you sure you're ready to do this?"

Frank took a deep breath. "I don't think I'll ever be. But this is for Hazel and her brothers; we can't just leave them, and if this is the only way to do it, I'm not going to back out. We have a plan in front of us, right? It's better than having nothing. Not to mention we might need the children of Hades to survive the  _House_  of Hades. I don't have a choice."

I nodded grimly. "Good luck, Frank."

I floated up above the area, getting better at this whole flying-with-my-trident thing. I saw the first few katoblepones lumber into the piazza, bellowing in anger with green eyes glowing under their manes. Their long snouts blew clouds of gas, like furry steam engines. Frank was the first thing they saw, and frankly (ha, Frank-ly) I think they didn't care for me when there was a clear target smelling of their favorite food within charging distance.

Frank nocked an arrow but hesitated, feeling a pang of guilt. These weren't the worst monsters we'd ever encountered. They were basically grazing animals that happened to be poisonous, the plants that they liked just happening to like demigods a bit. If we'd been more careful, we probably could've avoided all of this. But Hazel was dying because of them. He let the arrow fly. The nearest katobleps collapsed, crumbling to dust. He nocked a second arrow, but the rest of the herd was almost on top of him. More were charging into the square from the opposite direction.

I took some water from my bottle and layered it across my face to protect from the poison's effects before I swooped down and slashed through a couple of the monsters to keep a ring around Frank, buying him a few seconds. Frank transformed into a lion, roaring defiantly and leaping toward the archway, straight over the heads of the second herd. I jumped up as the two groups of katoblepones slammed into each other, but quickly recovered and ran after us.

I wasn't sure the roots would still smell when Frank changed form, as his clothes and possessions usually just sort of melted into his animal shape, but apparently, he still smelled like a yummy poison dinner. He and I split up, but every katobleps he raced past roared with outrage and joined the ' _Kill Frank_ ' Parade.

I had my own crowd of cow monsters behind me, turning down a larger street and hovering over the crowds of tourists. What the mortals saw, I had no idea - maybe I was just a hovering girl that they thought was special effects or maybe I looked like a large drone. I could handle regular mist made of water, but I didn't understand the magical Hecate-level Mist as much as Veon. Who knew what Frank must've looked like? A cat being chased by a pack of wild dogs?

Either way, a couple of people seemed to get a bit angry over me speeding by. Gelato cones went flying, a woman spilled a stack of carnival masks, and one dude toppled into the canal. I flicked my wrist and tossed him back on the nearest land before I got out of range. I saw back behind me that I had at least two dozen monsters on my tail, but I needed more.

The canals, I realized. This place was a paradise for a child of Poseidon. If I concentrated, I could track Frank's location, surging down the paths and making a ruckus powerful enough to shake cause a disturbance of the water. I needed to go everywhere that Frank couldn't, and once we have all of the katoblepones in Venice, we needed to meet up so that Frank could have his army to fight and make his crazy dad give him a single damn python. And don't try to tell me that the whole Greek/Roman arguments that Ares and Mars were having was any excuse. If anything, both of them seemed to be getting  _along_  at the prospect of seeing Frank nearly die against an army of poisonous monsters while he tries to save his girlfriend.

I was striking down a couple of the monsters, the ashes sometimes spilling into the water. I knew Frank didn't like using Hazel's spatha, but he was big enough and strong enough that the heavy cavalry sword shouldn't have bothered him. If Frank wanted to be in his most comfortable form - human - the long sword would give him reach without him needed to use the finite amount of arrows in his quiver. He was most vulnerable to the poisonous gas and the sickening gaze of the beasts, but he seemed to be holding his own.

I especially sensed when he turned into a dolphin and dived into the canal. The katobleps couldn't swim, and at the very least they were reluctant to follow him, and who can really blame them? The canal was disgusting - smelly, salty, and as warm as soup. Frank forged through it, dodging gondolas and speedboats, pausing occasionally to chitter dolphin insults at the monsters that followed him on the sidewalks. When he reached the nearest gondola dock, Frank turned back into a human again, stabbed a few more katoblepones to keep them angry, and took off running again.

I slashed at my katoblepones and flew down the streets, keeping track of the places that I've been going and building up numbers. I needed to fly low enough and slow enough that the monsters still thought they had a chance to catch me, as well as striking and taunting them enough to keep even the first comers determined to chase after me. I swiped up more of the poisonous plants as I zoomed past as well, taunting them with the food.

Frank dived into the canal as a dolphin or soared overhead when he needed a quick escape, but neither of us got too far ahead of our pursuers, surging through the streets of Venice and covering all the ground we could. We attracted more and more of the monsters, scattered more crowds of tourists, and led the now massive followings of katoblepones through the winding streets of the old city.

An idea struck me as I listened to the cows bellowing and calling for any monster that was close by. I swept low and dived into the water, filtering it around me so that I could tolerate it at least a little bit. I made sure to keep my presence obvious with a large wake following me that the monsters followed, but I took a deep water-y breath and let out a sonorous bellow mimicking the poison cow war cry and using all of the water in the canals of Venice as a giant speaker. I couldn't speak katobleps, but I knew how to draw them to where I wanted, following Frank's progress as well as my own. If there were any more of the katoblepones out there that we'd missed, they were coming for us now.

I jumped out of the water and continued the chase, trying to meet up with Frank without getting myself cornered and/or having the large herd lose interest. I sometimes had to let them catch up and slash some of them down to give them hope that they could finally kill me, sometimes shaking the vines and insulting them for their bad breath before continuing the chase once more. It wasn't an easy process, like one of those snake games where you had to collect the food or whatever but as your snake thing got longer, you had less room on the screen to work with, and you couldn't allow yourself to be overrun.

Considering that Frank had no idea where he was going, it was hard for me to predict where he was going and how we'd meet up. He backtracked, he lost his way, and turned down corners to end up running into the tail end of his own monster mob. I used the water and my trident to keep my stamina, but Frank was relying solely on his own running and transforming power. If turning into water had taught me anything, transformations could be draining if you did it too often. I could renew my energy through water, but Frank? I was surprised that he was still going, even skeptical that it was Frank in the first place, but who else could it be causing that ruckus? I couldn't directly see him, but the water told me someone was fighting and luring those things behind them, and I don't think that some other random demigod volunteered to take Frank's place half-way through. Frank was somehow finding the strength to continue, which was good. The hardest part still had yet to come.

I faced a couple bridges too small for the herd to funnel through and others too crowded with mortals. Just because they were oblivious to the real danger, the amount of poisonous breath the large herd I was toting around couldn't be healthy for anyone. The larger the two herds we had got, the more mortals would get pushed aside, knocked into the water, or trampled.

Finally, Frank was charging straight towards a wooden bridge, just past a big piazza, that spanned one of the widest canals. The bridge itself was a latticed arc of timber, like an old-fashioned roller coaster, about fifty meters long. I knew because I was running straight for it and facing Frank in eagle form with his own herd. We were heading straight for the same location. My katobleps bellow was still ringing out throughout the canals, sending them in our direction, but I had no doubt that we had successfully gotten every katobleps in Venice to join the herds, pushing through the streets behind us as tourists screamed and scattered, maybe thinking they were caught in the midst of a stray dog stampede - or the Venetian version of the running of the bulls.

The bridge we were heading for was empty of foot traffic. It was perfect.

Frank dropped like a stone and turned back to human form, the two of us running to the middle of the bridge and meeting up - a natural choke point - and threw the bait of poisonous roots on the deck behind us, the two of us back-to-back facing the herds.

" ** _Now_** **that's** ** _an army!_** " Mars shouted.

" ** _Get outta here, girl, and watch the show!_** " Ares ordered.

I realized that the Veon image - Chuck? - had vanished. Maybe he had to be close to Veon - even in plant form - to sustain himself, considering that I apparently only had a small piece of him inside me. Whatever Chuck was, I was going to have a serious talk to Veon about this. I looked at my hand and saw that my skin seemed just slightly paler than before. It could've just been my paranoia thanks to Chuck's declaration of my zombification, but it would be best to stay out of this battle before my power started to weaken.

I dived over the side of the bridge, the water catching me below as I backed away from the fight. Frank's resolve didn't waver even as he was left alone to fight the army of monsters. If anything, he seemed to only grow angry, drawing Hazel's golden spatha as the front of the katobleps herds reached the base of the bridge.

"Come on!" He shouted, a deep furry and hint of desperation in his voice. "You wanna know what Frank Zhang is worth?!  _Come on!_ "

I realized he wasn't just shouting at the monsters. He was venting weeks of fear, rage, and resentment. He was tired of feeling useless, tired of feeling like he was inferior to Leo both because of Leo and Hazel's awkward relationship, but also because Leo was keeping the ship together with his mechanical expertise while Frank had successfully iguana-ed his way out of a pair of Chinese Handcuffs and turned into a fish in Atlanta. The voices of Ares and Mars were screaming right along with him, almost as though Frank had merged with the god of war to become one himself. But if I didn't know any better, I probably would've thought Frank  _had_  become a god of war.

I watched in awe as Frank sliced through monsters until he was ankle-deep in yellow dust. Whenever he got overwhelmed, he changed shape - became an elephant, a dragon, a lion - and each transformation seemed to clear his lungs, giving him a fresh burst of energy. His shape-shifting became so fluid, he could start an attack in human form with his sword and finish as a lion, raking his claws across a katobleps's snout. I debated whether giving a little help in clearing the monster dust would be allowed, maybe giving Frank a water mask like mine to help him with the poison inhalation, but Frank never needed it.

The monsters kicked with their hooves, breathed noxious gas and glared straight at Frank with their poisonous eyes. He should have died a hundred times over, he should've been trampled. But somehow, he stayed on his feet, unharmed, and unleashed a hurricane of violence. He didn't feel any sort of pleasure, but he didn't hesitate either. He stabbed one monster and beheaded another. He turned into a dragon and bit a katobleps in half, then changed into an elephant and trampled three at once under his feet.

Before my eyes, he even started glowing red - surrounded by a rosy aura. I assumed it was some kind of blessing from his father, Frank's war-like side being brought out. In a battle like this, alone with no one else to worry about and surrounded by nothing but enemies that didn't seem to get the hint and try running away once its kind was slaughtered around it, this was one of the perfect scenarios for Frank to show his skills - especially the kind of war that Ares/Mars represented: brute force and raw power as opposed to Athena/Minerva's tactical skills.

I was so distracted by the battle that I didn't notice as seaweed and water started crawling up and wrapping around my ankle until it was too late.

Before I could process what was happening, I was yanked under the soup-y water, getting the wind knocked out of me - or rather, the water knocked out of me. The murky water blocked out the sun, or maybe that was just me blacking out. Either way, my vision went dark in a matter of seconds, feeling the water drag me down under.


	15. Living on the Breaking Point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second part of a double update! Whooo!
> 
> The first half - actually more like the first 2/3 - of the chapter go to Amalspach.
> 
> I added a couple small things and did the fight scene since I'm better at those and frankly, Amalspach was brain-dead at that point from all the stuff going on outside of the world of FanFic.
> 
> The two of us have very different writing styles, for better or worse, and continuity could be a problem, but overall, I think it flows well enough. Since this was just recently given to me, anything that should've existed but didn't previously will be addressed in the future, don't worry.
> 
> Amalspach is great at writing, has a larger vocabulary than me just because I know definitions of words and how to use them in sentences, it's just that when I'm writing, I just can never think of fancy ways to use them and I just give up, put the simple way of saying it down and move on. In essence, it might be pretty obvious where I added things in.
> 
> (Again, I swear I didn't change that much, Amalspach, just grammar stuff that doesn't affect the overall point and flow of the story).
> 
> Enjoy! :)

First Person: Audrey

_It wasn't that I was having a bad day, per say, before I blacked out; it's just that none of them were particularly great anyways, and I've been the person people keep trying to lean on._

_Actually, I was having a series of 'meh' days - days that aren't so terrible they would be classified as bad, but not good, either. You'd feel like you shouldn't be complaining about them, but really you've started to become sick of simply existing because the good times only come around in small doses._

_See, there is an emotional stage very aptly called 'the breaking point.' It's when someone snaps into a fury of rage and frustration and stress and remorse because they just can't take life anymore. Things have finally gotten too larger than life, your mind is a roller coaster, you don't have anywhere left to go or any options left to exhaust, and you're completely done. You don't have a single thing remaining to give, another recess of yourself to pour into putting everything together again._

_Well. I've kind of been straddling the breaking point for years._

_There's my parents - and doesn't every teenager have those sorts of problems? Trying to make everybody proud and feeling as though you never quite live up to the bar is a very common struggle. Or, how about this: thinking that perhaps you set the bar so high to begin with that you'll struggle to reach it every time you attempt to be brilliant. That's another fun one._

_See, and then there's the fights. Not everybody has the super supportive parents who are dying to see your baseball games or live for your dance recitals. My mom was never that personality. I get it; she grew up in a rough home. No father, broken down mom without an income, horrendous uncle - it all must have been a lot for her, especially at sixteen. The issue is that she never quite outgrew that phase, never quite got to be a normal kid. Well, when your rich dad skips town, the one that used to give you everything you ever wished for and let you live in a big fancy estate with every move, it's a bit of a reality check. I wasn't allowed to be regular in her eyes; I had to be perfect, because wasn't that her relationship after the fallout? Grandma expecting perfect behavior from a previously spoiled brat?_

_She's not that person anymore, but sometimes, it's easy to forget. She's hard on me because she wants me to know what perseverance looks like._

_And, you know, I really love my parents. Of course I do. And my dad, honestly, had about as normal an upbringing as anybody - he was the one with the white picket fence, the youngest 'golden child' status, and all the friends and lazy afternoons and summer jobs he wanted. He just…he gets her situation. He knows she rebuilt her life from the ground up. But I was never an irresponsible coddled thing looking for attention, and Mom just can't understand what that's like._

_What can I say? Fighting monsters fills you with a sense of humility._

_All that never really goes away, though. The way you're raised sticks with you forever, and I've been given a sense of duty and responsibility I will never outgrow, and the nagging feeling I'll never be good enough sometimes comes along with it. That's just life._

_I had dreams, though. I thought, if I just worked harder, I could sustain my perfect grades while the world crashes down around me. I could make friends, and I'd be able to get into a great college and maybe even have a relationship even though I'm a demigod. It's not like I broadcasted it to everyone, but I love writing. I love typing out word after word and creating stories, forming worlds from scratch. It's a lot like being a god, actually, and having the power to change other people. Writing is freedom, and I'm good at it. I had been working on poetry lately, and I'd even entered it into some competitions. I've gotten some scholarships for my work._

_I finally found something I could be happy with for the rest of my existence. I had a plan, and some good academies lined up, and a few degree ideas under my belt. I was thinking I'd major in journalism and travel the world, writing whatever I felt like. I'd make myself known. And I could get a minor in chemistry, or maybe business, because I'm still a 4.0 GPA student and I know that making a career based on fantasies alone isn't so smart. But I love chem, and I've maintained a high A in all of my science classes, so why not? I think, if everything else fell through, I'd be more than content to save the world from disease and engineer new toxins. It'd be an adventure. I had a future, set in stone, and I honestly couldn't wait._

_Well, then all this came around, school is on hold, and we're stuck trying to keep a deity older than the gods from rising again and destroying the world as we know it._

_Sweet. Just what I wanted my life to come to._

_And, of course, that wasn't bad enough._

_Now that Percy, Annabeth, and Zyanya are gone…that's a heavy blow. They were leaders, backbones, sources of encouragement and levity and the realm of the possible. And I'm trying. I'm really, really trying to keep it together. Since my first battle until now, I've been dealing with things by myself, trying to shift burdens off of other people and onto my own shoulders. I strive to be fair. I strive to be reasonable. I strive to be better, because being better is the only way to live for me. Be the best, one day, and perhaps you'll be okay again._

_It's just…I don't have many friends. It's been better, since meeting Emily and Lucy and all the others. But damn, wouldn't it be nice not to be so alone anymore when you're surrounded by other people? To have somebody else out there understand how broken down, exhausted, and tired of always trying to take care of everybody you are?_

_I can't even imagine how relieving that would be anymore. I can't picture it._

_I don't have many friends. I really can't stand losing any others._

_It should have been me, I think sometimes. At least if it was me, it wouldn't be so bad. Nobody really needs me - I'm the tag along. I've got moments of usefulness, but who would give me a second thought if I just disappeared tomorrow? Percy and Annabeth would keep them all on their feet much better than I could. I'm just the second best child of Poseidon._

_Ha. Emily would be mortified if she knew I pondered that all the time. Then again, you can never be sure. She's slowly but surely gotten stronger, able to connect with people, knowing what's wrong and how to help. If she knows about me, she's not said a thing._

_Anyways, I'm kinda falling apart because of yesterday._

_It's kinda not fair, anymore, that everybody else gets a chance to get ripped to pieces except for me. My job is to be 'strong for the group' and to 'lead by example.'_

_Sweet gig. Really._

_It's like lying about how, exactly, you got a red stain on your jeans and having to explain that you're fine. (That actually happened, once, around my mom. She was so worried, you could practically taste the concern; and I pretended that I wasn't just stabbed in the thigh by a raging demon. Apparently that's not the sort of thing your parents are supposed to find out about. Fun stuff, right there)._

_First, there was Hazel. She was stiff as a board, hands curling around the deck railing, and I was terrified that she was having a stroke for a second. Her hair was whipping around her face and yet she was oblivious, eyes glassy and nearly unseeing._

_"Hazel?" I asked, putting a hand over top hers._

_I swear, she jumped back at least six inches._

_"Oh, it's you," She said, voice low and thick. She resumed staring at the horizon, looking off into the distance. "I just want to be alone right now."_

_"I'm not leaving you alone," I insisted. I wasn't leaving anybody alone, ever again. "What's going on?"_

_"Nothing, I'm just a little out of it today."_

_"I appreciate your chivalrous attempts to make yourself seem alright, but you're fixating on spots in the water. I'm half afraid you're going to fall overboard. Now, Hazel, just tell me about it and spare yourself my annoying prodding."_

_She glanced at me sideways. "You're not annoying."_

_"Please, everybody knows I'm a nuisance. Always underfoot. But I'm awful good at listening to stories, if you feel the need to share." I sat down, legs dangling over the edge. "Look at that, I'm ready to listen already. If, you know, you're ready to talk."_

_The dark-haired girl sighed, dropping down next to me. "It's just…I'm the youngest. I'm not all that important-"_

_"Not true. You've got some of the coolest powers I've ever seen and you're one of the best people I've ever met. You're plenty important." She passed me a wry smile and I nudged her gently. "See? And you seem to have a very pretty face, too."_

_"Well, still. I'm not a seasoned veteran or a commander or anything much of use. Veon's just so much…_ better _than me at everything. With him around, I doubt anyone would miss me. But maybe if I had been smarter, I could have…well, I don't know, but I could have saved them. I know I could have. Just thirty more seconds and I-"_

 _"Hazel, it wasn't your job to save them. Don't you think all of us feel that we could've done something? Look at Nico. He was the closest to actually reaching them - he had to see the moment Percy let the two of them fall. They let go on their own in order to stay together. Zy…_ Lu _…she knows what she's doing. She's gonna keep them together down there. If anything is_ your _duty, it's to keep going up here and not let them down." I took droplets out of the air and laced them through my fingers, watching them spin and weave next to the ship, catching the light. "You're more essential than you realize, you know. You're helping keep them grounded, to keep them together. You're a glue that unites them."_

_She blinked, and some of the old sparks came back into her eyes. "I thought that was Piper and Emily."_

_"It's all of you. Let me tell you, Frank would be an absolute wreck if you weren't here, and you have a great way of putting people at ease. Hazel, you're strong, clever, and level-headed in a crisis. So what if you're the youngest? You've already sacrificed more than most of us. More than enough."_

_I spun the water in lazy swirls around our heads before circling it towards her wrist. It froze, like tiny crystals, and formed a bracelet._

_"You really believe that?"_

_"Of course," I told her, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "That's kinda what I'm here for."_

_She suddenly hugged me, and I held her as she calmed down. Hazel got up, already looking better, and wiped her nose with her sleeve. "You know, it's not just Emily, Piper, and I. I'd say you're going a pretty good job yourself."_

_She smiled and headed off towards Frank's room - understandable, wanting to see her boyfriend right now - and left me alone, sitting with my legs through the railing, letting the sun bake the deck._

_Alone. I'm sort of used to that._

_And then, it occurred to me that Leo probably hasn't eaten all day. It felt like, given everything that's been going on, the rest of us have started to forget that he's not a machine. He acts like it, constantly fixing things and skipping sleep and trying not to let anyone see just how much emotional turmoil he's in, but Leo is just as much of a human as the rest of us. He needs breaks, and meals, and people to talk to._

_So, really, what can I do other than bring him a sandwich?_

_"Valdez, you better resurface soon. Otherwise, I'm going to eat this right next to you. Slowly," I said levelly, brandishing a plate. "I worked hard on this. Would you let all that effort go to waste?"_

_And thus he appeared, peeking out beneath another boiler in the engine room. As expected, his eyes betrayed his hunger and exhaustion, and his clothes were slathered in soot._

_"You didn't put any effort into this at all," He realized. "Magic, remember?"_

_Still, he took the sandwich and started eating with ferocity._

_"It's the thought that counts. You're welcome, by the way."_

_He smirked, eyelids heavy, and shook his head. "Awfully full of it today, huh?"_

_"It's a process. Hazel looked pretty down."_

_He straightened up, already appearing more serious. "She's alright, though?"_

_"Yeah, I calmed her down. It's been rough on her, you can tell, even though she doesn't usually say anything out loud. She thinks that, because she's just the kid of the group, she was too stupid or inexperienced or something to save everyone. I told her the opposite."_

_"She thinks that?" He muttered, taking a sudden interest in his feet. "Gods, that's…"_

_"Crazy?" I finished. "Absolutely. But she's Hazel, and she's far too nice to feel anything but guilty. She loves easily."_

_"Wow." He winced, stretching out his arms - they must be riddled with cramps - and shifting his gaze back to me. "Thanks, you know - for taking care of her. Somebody has to look out for the rest of us, right? And Emily's working herself to death. Even she can't do it all."_

_I understand what he doesn't say instantly. "It's not your responsibility, you know. Don't pressure yourself to the brink of insanity to be there for everyone. Already, you're controlling the entire ship and working yourself to the bone to keep us afloat and on course. You haven't snapped yet; there's something to be said for that."_

_He laughed, and it's a tired, dry thing that would ordinarily never come from the mouth of Leo Valdez. But who said anything about this being ordinary? This was the apocalypse, after all. "It's not your responsibility to take care of them, either," The curly haired engineer muttered back, stuffing another piece of ham-and-cheese sandwich into his mouth between words._

_"I know. But somebody has to do it."_

_"Not you by yourself. That's why I'm here, Ve's here, Em's here, Jason's here. We look out for each other."_

_"Who's looking out for you, Leo?" I asked, looking him dead in the eyes._

_"The same person who remembers to bring me sandwiches, I hope," He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. "Just…take care of yourself."_

_Back to normal, then. Or about as normal as we're going to get._

_"Sure thing, Captain Valdez," I smiled, shooting him a mock salute. "Have fun getting unspeakably filthy."_

_He gestured to the engine grease staining his gloves and laughed again, this time for real. "Oh, you think?"_

_"Absolutely. Just don't set your clothes on fire again and that'll be great."_

_He grinned winningly. "So, for dinner, can I get tacos? Good ones? With, like, ground beef, beans, cheese, salsa, guac, some-"_

_"Bye, Leo," I tell him, and I close the door with only one last glance._

_His face was less heavy, decorated with fewer wrinkles. Maybe it was just me, but he seemed…more alive. If that's what I can do for them, then taking on everything else is okay. If they can just breathe for a moment, it's all worth it._

_And since our three group members fell into Tartarus, that's kind of all I've been doing, so…_

_Next was a group meeting - how fun - where we all sat down and talked strategy. That is to say, we pretended to be useful while really just sitting down at a big table and enjoying what was probably more akin to a group therapy session. Since most everybody was partially despondent, guess who gets to overlook weapons inventory, re-map battle strategies, and plan out briefs again?_

_Ha. I love life._

_It wasn't as though the others weren't trying to be of use. Kaze usually suggested hitting the problem really hard, while Veon was good at making the basic decisions of 'We go there, we do this, improvise the rest.' He was pretty good when it came to in-the-moment battle strategies, but planning things beforehand seemed to be a big challenge, as he was always concerned with the possibility that anything could happen with anything we did and anything that attacked us. Basically, he needed to have results in front of him if he wanted to do anything based off of it. Emily was always suggesting new things to try and happy to help out with any job assigned to her, which was a nice mood that was contagious._

_The others were doing what they could as well, Jason, Frank, and Hazel putting their professional Legion training to use, and Piper and Leo offering the diverse and out-of-the-box ideas that helped both keep us all concentrated and open-minded. Leo was obviously the mechanic and had everything with the ship under his belt, as well._

_Still, I felt a swell of pride that I seemed to be the organizer, taking up the leadership role more than anyone else seemed to be willing to or capable of._

_It's not that I don't like leading; in fact, quite the opposite. I get a rush from the feeling of being in control, of being in charge, and from getting the final say in how things go. It's an empowering urge, I think, to know that your opinion matters, that people look up to you. But a lot more of it is about providing guidance, being a pillar, and nobody is one hundred percent right now. We're all just trying not to drown, let alone plan ahead. So what would usually be riveting is now more of a burden than anything else._

_Still. They chose me, didn't they? That's gotta count for something._

_"Alright, people, the sooner we can finish outlining this, the sooner we can eat our feelings with ice cream and splurge on stupid television shows in the comfort of our rooms. Let's be honest, guys, that's really all we do during our free time."_

_Piper cracked a smile, and Jason snorted next to her. Everybody else looked slightly more at ease, so I assumed my sense of sarcasm was just bad enough to make them relax. Good, then._

_Ve coughed into his fist. "Videogames and books."_

_"Yeah, that too," I smirked. "Piper, Jason, you were overlooking supplies yesterday. How are we on fuel, greek fire, and general explosives?"_

_"Pretty good," Piper spoke out, voice soothing and sweet._

_It was a subtle change, but you could tell she was pouring energy into mellowing out the room._

_Thank the gods for Piper, is all._

_"We're low on canisters, but we should have enough to tide us through the next month or so provided nothing bad happens," She continued._

_I mean, with us, everything always goes bad, but I let the comment pass with a nod._

_"And if an emergency pops up?" I followed up with._

_"Two weeks. Still not that pressing yet," Piper informs. "And, if you were wondering at all, we've still got toiletries. I mean, I don't want to run out of toothpaste or something while on board, but we'll be alright for a while."_

_"There's like a shipping crate's worth of toilet paper down there," Jason butt in, looking almost impressed. "I think Leo went a little crazy with the supply stock. Lots of things down there to set on fire, though."_

_I nod again. "True, true. Good, then, I guess we'll be alright unless Leo requests any special materials. Today's watch was Em, Ve, and Nico, since you guys were on deck all afternoon. See anything strange or slightly concerning?"_

_"We haven't spotted any magic sea snakes bent on killing us all, so it's been okay so far," Nico mentioned dryly._

_He was…he hadn't been alright, per say, but on the whole, he was staying alive. He was wracked with guilt and worry and a whole slew of issues, but he wasn't falling into a ball and crying, so there wasn't much I could do. He opened up a little around Em and I, and a lot with Jason and Hazel when the occasion struck, but he wasn't coming to any of us in particular with giant emotional baggage, and that was his choice. Of course, there was that whole thing about him and Veon's soul bond, but that made it so that the two of them didn't need to actually_ talk _about their problems - they simply understood. As long as the two were supporting each other, I wasn't going to be the first to request Nico open up to the rest of us. Nico would talk about his problems when he wanted to, and not a minute before._

_"Great. Leo, the engine's holding up, right?"_

_The mechanic shrugged. "Smooth sailing so far, until the next disaster. It's just a lot of work is all." He saluted, coupled with a cheesy smirk mainly made for the benefit of the group. "Don't worry, Papa Leo's on this."_

_"The inferior version of Papa John's, cool," Veon quipped._

_"We really appreciate that, Leo," I continued. "Now Hazel, Frank, are you okay?"_

_They bowed their heads. "I've been working on my shape-shifting abilities in the stables, and Hazel's been progressing her magic lately. It's not much, but it's something," The son of Ares announced, reaching over to hold his girlfriend's hand. She obviously appreciated the support._

_"It's a process. I'll get better eventually, but it's getting there," She said, trying to manage a smile. I noticed she was still wearing my bracelet._

_"That's more than fine. Every little thing counts." Clearing out my throat, I went on to discuss what I'd been doing. "So, I've been working on a new form of communication," I said, taking a glass off of the dining hall table filled with water._

_I poured it out in a careful stream, where it remained cupped in my hands. With immense concentration, they crystallized into beads, smooth and clear as though they were made of glass. Our initials were carved delicately into the surfaces to identify that each of us had a designated orb._

_"Emily? Piper? Veon? I know you're not the best with enchantments, but I figured you could connect them."_

_Piper's eyes narrowed in thought._

_"Like comlinks?" She asked._

_I nodded. "In theory. I can't help with the actual spell, but for now, these won't break, snap, or melt. They're held together by both my force of will and by divine power. If they're reinforced by your magic, I think they could work like communicators. Do you guys have your camp necklaces? I thought we could slip them on our chains."_

_Frank and Hazel obviously shook their heads, but the rest automatically strung the beads onto their necks. Veon asked something to Kaze - who had been sitting in the corner playing with his mechanical cat, before the boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a spool of leather cord that you might find at an arts and crafts store. Veon gave him an order, and Kaze instantly went into speed-mode, creating three necklaces resembling the ones from Camp Half-Blood. When he was done, he tossed one to Hazel and Frank respectively while keeping one for himself and pulling things out of his pockets to decorate it with._

_"Excellent," I said. "I think we could make this work. Ready to give it a go?"_

_Piper and Emily began, talking to the beads in each person's possession in persuasive tones, telling them to open freely to one another. They stressed their importance, their need to cooperate, and poured every ounce of their emotional repertoire into her words. When the beads were most pliant, they looked over to Veon, who closed his eyes, clapped his hands together before spreading them. The power leaked into the room slowly, as if someone had left a faucet running, and it kept mounting, finally concentrating on the enchanted beads. The power swirled around them, tendrils of mist seeping into each one. Once the energy had fully disappeared, the boy sighed and relaxed, sinking back into his chair, looking exhausted like he'd aged ten years._

_"It worked," He noted, looking ready to pass out._

_It had to have, because everyone's beads were colored, now, and speckled with raw magic._

_Mine was an inky blue, dotted in silver flecks, like a starry sky; Piper possessed a rich forest green, like springtime come alive; Veon's was a Stygian black, almost like looking into a black abyss; the one that Kaze snatched with Japanese symbols that I assumed were his name was sky blue and sparkling like a precious gem; Leo's was as red as the flames in his forge; Jason's necklace held a swirling grey, which reminded me of storm clouds before a storm; Frank's was a vibrant violet, the color of the legion; Nico strung on a speckled ebony; and Em wore a cheerful buttercup yellow. In Hazel's palm, though, rested her bead - a stunning molten gold, the carved initials looking, for all the world, as though they were set in real metal._

_On the table, there were three more. A deep fuchsia with the cursive golden script of the letters LC, a creamy orange with a formal Times New Roman AC, and a sea green etched with a flashy PJ._

_I scooped them up and tucked them into my pocket for later. No one objected._

_"So, I guess we should test them out."_

_I held my bead, running fingers over my necklace, and projected my thoughts to the others. '_ **Is this working? Can you hear me, guys?** _'_

_"Gods, that's weird!" Leo yelped, rubbing his forehead. "It's like…not like being possessed, but it's strange."_

_"You heard me?" I reiterated, looking around the table._

_'_ **Yeah, we did,** _' Came a voice, and I instantly knew it was Piper._

_It sounded, for all the world, like she was talking out loud, but_ through _something, as if there was molasses between us, making everything echo strangely. Kinda like being underwater, actually._

_'_ **So, this isn't the most unusual thing that's happened to me, but it's up there** **,** _' Came Frank's transmission._

_'_ **Haven't we all experienced stranger on this trip alone?** _' Veon added, and I smiled a real smile for the first time in weeks._

_"It's working. It's working correctly," I whispered, sagging with relief._

_'_ **Something had to eventually** **,** _' Piper reminded everyone, and Em voiced her approval._

_'_ **This is amazing, right?** _' She silently voiced, the excitement evident in her thoughts. '_ **Seriously, it's incredible.** _'_

_Em had a way of making everything seem a little lighter, of seeing the joy and accomplishment in everything. I love her for it. We really needed her on this ship._

_'_ **We can give each other literal headaches. Joy** **,** _' Called out a person sounding suspiciously like Nico._

_'_ **Oh, but that's half the fun!** _' I transmitted to him._

_His snort, this time, was physically audible._

' **At least we're not giving Hedge one,** _' Veon quipped, before his face turned horrified, as though he just realized what he'd said. '_ **We're… _not_  giving Hedge one, right?** _'_

_'_ **It'd probably be in our best interests not to, no,** _' Nico declared._

_No one argued with that._

_'_ **You all sound stupid in Japanese.** _'_

_We all jumped, looking to each other, startled, before I finally realized where that foreign voice had come from. ' **Kaze?!** '_

_Everyone turned to him, and the young boy raised an eyebrow. '_ **Am I speaking English to you?** _'_

_'_ **Well, ain't that convenient?** _' I transmitted._

_'_ **What? Don't like my voice?** _' He hissed while giving a glare._

_'_ **Uh, avoid slang if possible,** _' Veon informed us. '_ **Kaze just heard 'That is not convenient.' I suppose the translation I added into the spell is about as accurate as Google Translate.** _'_

_Kaze blew a raspberry. The robotic cat on his shoulder mimicked him a moment later and we all broke out into laughter._

_"Do you think this has limitations? Like, if you travel away long distances, will it still work?" Jason interrupted. "Or, if you're farther from someone, do you have to concentrate harder?"_

_"I tried to make it as powerful as possible," Veon assured him. "And while I don't know the answer, I'm pretty confident they'll stand up to our testing. I'm not exactly a magician nor a scientist, but-"_

_"_ **-I know how to cast a damn communication spell, boy!** _" He suddenly shouted through the mental link._

_It had definitely been his voice, there was no doubt, but all of us jumped at the sudden screaming in our heads._

_Veon paled and went wide-eyed, giving a nervous smile. "Uh…I have confidence it's strong enough…"_

_I had a feeling that there was more to this, but Veon would tell us when he was ready._

_"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I'm dissolving the link," I warned, and the connection dropped. Though it hadn't been uncomfortable, having everyone in my mind telepathically, a great weight was released once I dismissed the feed. Everyone else seemed similarly relieved. "Okay, is everyone alright?"_

_"Still breathing," Frank said weakly, rubbing his temple. "It's strong. Really strong."_

_"Excellent. We've got a way to talk to one another that none of our enemies can use," I remarked, running a hand through my hair. "And, emotionally, does anyone have anything they need to get off their chest? Anything at all?"_

_Emily, ever the considerate one, instantly let out what the rest of the group was thinking. "I really miss them," She murmured, tucking her legs into her chest, and a hush spread over the room._

_I coughed, choking on nothing but memories._

_"Yeah. I miss them, too."_

_I breathed in, I breathed out._

_Kaze muttered something in Japanese, Neko sitting on his knees in front of him._

_"He says, 'I want my sister back,'" Veon whispered, almost as though he wanted to keep Kaze from hearing him communicate the declaration._

_Kaze must've heard, even if he didn't understand, and knew that Veon had translated his point. But Kaze didn't protest or glare. He simply hugged his knees as his cat nuzzled him gently in comfort._

_We all missed Annabeth and Percy, but we all also understood how emotionally shattered Kaze had to be on the inside. He had only wanted to protect his sister, wanted to get her away from all this stuff with gods and prophecies, but in the end, he had lost her again to that very thing, saw her jump into the darkness willingly all for someone else, never thinking of her own needs. He'd made himself a traitor of Gaea, who had, in turn, turned his mother into a perverted and unholy creation. Even if Tsuchi's soul wasn't in there, Gaea had tainted her image, along with his sister's father as well._

_We had lost our friends. He had lost his only family._

_And after that, there was nothing more to say._

_Jason opened his mouth and then closed it, lips drawn to a thin line. He had no idea how to put anything into sentences._

_Hey. I'd been there before._

_Surprisingly, it was Nico that broke the silence._

_"Can I just-"_

_He was cut off by the enormous creature that, at this very moment, had decided to ram itself into the side of the Argo, throwing all of us across the room._

_Ah. You know, it had been far too uneventful, anyhow. We couldn't be allowed a moment of peace, now could we? That would be far too considerate of the cosmos._

_"Leo, check for damage!" Veon instantly snapped. "The Kako will help you! Do not let this ship get destroyed! Audrey, Jason, Hazel with me! Frontal assault! Piper, Emily, Frank, Nico split up! Check for anything that's gotten aboard the ship that's not the big baddie that just hit us! Do not let all of us get caught if we've got some nasties trying to invade! Kaze!"_

_The boy looked up, on alert._

_"_ **Hit the problem really hard!** _" The beads translated for me._

_Kaze gave a salute before surging out of the mess hall and up to the deck._

_"And could one of you please make sure Hedge doesn't get himself killed?! I don't care who, just go!"_

_The two teams split up, drawing our weapons and rushing into the fray._

* * *

_"Audrey, go!" Veon shouted._

_I jumped up, soaring high with my lance to the Kraken's face. The others were working to destroy the thing's tentacles, wrapped around the ship and attempting to either crush it or tear it apart._

_I had heard things about Krakens, obviously, but they were supposed to be further north in the Atlantic between Greenland and Europe. So, of course, Gaea or maybe just Keto (sister of…what was his name? Porky from Atlanta? Phorcys. Whatever) had sent one to attack us while we were just casually trying to avoid the rock monsters in the mountains._

_Joy!_

_Kaze was running around slicing at…well, basically_ everywhere _, striking rapidly with his shuriken and dodging the slow monster's attacks with ease - even managing to piss the thing off by slicing one of its tentacles clean off. The monster had, in turn, started flailing around wildly in an attempt to strike him. Unfortunately, flailing was Kaze's greatest weakness, as the thing struck blindly and so Kaze couldn't predict its movements, subsequently getting a blow to the face and sent flying. This also caused trouble for the others, who were working desperately not to suffer the same fate as they worked to get the rest of the tentacles off the ship before it destroyed._

_Kaze, Frank, and I were the only ones with any ability close to flying that got us to the monster's face - Veon complaining about not having his lance anymore while he and his Kako were the only things keeping the Kraken from snapping the ship like a twig already._

_" **STOP!** " Piper and Emily shouted over the torrent._

_The Kraken hesitated for a moment, the others all striking and Veon grunting as he strained to have all of the Kako tar eject the Kraken's tentacles from the ship all at once, tossing it off in one big jolt. Frank dived in to claw at the creature's eyes, buying Kaze the time to swing me around and throw me as hard as he could. I launched towards the monster's face with the speed of a bullet, keeping myself, you know,_ alive _, thanks to my water power and a lot of concentration._

_Frank quickly flew off just before I collided with the Kraken's face - or more accurately, my trident collided with the Kraken's face. With its tentacles detached from the ship, the entire monster went flying away in a large explosion._

_I don't know what Kaze did to my trident, but he'd put a gem on the tip of the middle prong that caused it to surge with energy, nearly more than I could contain. We moved quickly when we came up with the plan, but I hadn't been properly informed thanks to Veon being distracted and the chaos forcing me to just take Kaze's word for it that whatever he'd done would be effective._

_The glowing aura on my weapon from Kaze's gem flowed forward to the front where it was making contact with what I assumed was the Kraken's mouth, a hum increasing to a high pitch before everything exploded. The last thing I saw before falling into the deck was a shower of golden sparks, and I my weapon, still secured in the palm of my hand._

_And then the world went dark._

* * *

_I woke up surrounded by everyone, with Emily close to tears beside me._

_"I'm here," I mumbled, sitting up. The seven, Hedge, Veon, and Nico remained, still holding their collective breaths. "What? I wasn't out for that long, was I?"_

_"Three hours," Hazel said softly, rubbing her bead. "You crushed that thing, crashed into the deck of the ship, and remained unmoving for the past three hours. We couldn't wake you up."_

_Emily nodded vigorously. "It was terrible. You just laid there, unresponsive, and I was terrified that you wouldn't ever come back," She cried, wiping her eyes beneath her glasses._

_"It would have been fine, Em. You all would have been fine, it's alright," I tried, smiling weakly and rising to my feet on shaky legs. "I'm fine. I'll be right as rain in the morning." Everyone remained grim. "Hedge? Come on, tell them I'm okay."_

_"Cupcake, I've seen a lot of ass-whoopings," The satyr began, "but you took that monster down like it was a rag doll and then fell fifty feet. There's a mark in the deck. Even the Double Death Incarnate boys over there-" Nico frowned for dramatic effect and Veon gave a satisfied nod "-didn't know if you were still alive for a minute, and we could barely get the ambrosia down your throat." I turned around and saw that yes, there was a sizable indent in the wood, as well as lots of spilled nectar, probably from failed attempts to forcibly feed me. "They were right to be worried. I was worried, too."_

_I scanned each person's face, noting the solemn looks._

_Was I really that important?_

_"Well…I mean, I'm sorry I had the whole team so concerned. I care a lot about all of you and I didn't mean to put you in that place of panic and confusion. I won't let you down again."_

_Em hugged me, there. I nearly fell back to the floor. "I'm just so happy you're alive," She whispered._

_I wrapped my arms around her, squeezing her as tightly as I could, smiled wearily._

_"Yeah, I'm pretty happy, too, Em."_

_Veon rushed up to us next, practically strangling my waist from behind, followed by Hazel and her boyfriend, then Piper, and the rest filed in. I was overwhelmed by the sense that, despite the absence of three people, we were still a family._

_I could still do this_.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, my first thought was that falling asleep in the Venetian water must've been disgusting.

Then I realized that the water wasn't as mucky, and I was lying on blue rocks. Initially, I thought I had somehow been brought back to Camp Fish-Blood, as Leo had dubbed it. The water was clear, and as I took a deep breath, I felt an aura that didn't appear in normal water. It only ever appeared when I had visited my father's palace.

I sat up in the water and looked around. I was certainly in a palace, but this one wasn't my dad's - or at least a part of it that I had encountered before. I was sitting inside a simple room, surrounded by rock, lying on a rock lump in the shape of a rectangle that must've been a bed, and I looked to see a window covered with transparent ice.

I swam up to look through it and saw a glittering underwater kingdom in the distance - like the largest and most glorified reef in history. It was large and spread farther than I could see from the window, containing creatures of all kinds that I could make out in the distance. Some were normal sea creatures, others were mer-people.

I looked around my room. There was a large shell that acted as a door, but besides the 'bed' the room was bland. It was a prison, if I had to guess. I hadn't memorized dad's initial kingdom (since technically all of the ocean was his kingdom) by heart, but this looked close enough to what I remembered.

Barring the fact that me getting from Venice to here should've been impossible, I wondered if he had ordered my capture. The whole capture thing was confusing enough, but he shouldn't have been in the condition to do anything, being split between his Greek and Roman forms.

I worried about the others, particularly Frank and his katoblepones. I needed to get back to them, help him with convincing Triptolemus to hold up his end of the bargain. If I knew gods, I knew that he had a 75% chance of twisting things around, and Frank wasn't exactly the bargainer of the Argo II.

I swam over to the door and pounded my fist on it. "Hey! Would somebody like to explain what's happening?!"

The water in this place wasn't exactly against me - not Porky Phorcys levels of against me - but at the same time, my control wasn't strong enough to move this large shell out of the way.

"Hello?! Look, I need to get back to my crew! You could've just asked me if you wanted a chat! Remember, kids! Kidnapping is  _bad!_ "

I knocked on the door without a response for a few minutes before I sighed and turned my attention to the window. The water was frozen over specifically to act as a window, completely solidified without the intent of ever melting it back to water, therefore the enchantment on it was strong. I put my hand on it and tried to melt it, but the process was like trying to heat up an ice cube with nothing but your breath. Slowly, the ice started melting, but it was a slow process.

I didn't have the chance to continue before the large shell at the entrance suddenly rumbled, the whole room slightly shaking as it rolled out of the doorway. I was instantly on alert, trying to hide the small progress I'd made in melting the ice, but no one appeared in the entrance.

I cautiously moved forward. "Hello?"

I poked my head out of the doorway, seeing a long hall of the same cyan rock. I was at the end of the hall, only one way to go, and I saw other shell doors down the line. I looked around, back into my cell and then down the hall. I could sense that there was no one down the hall with my water powers, but this was too easy. Or possibly, it was a way of releasing me to speak with my captor.

I spent a good deal of time hesitating, wondering if I should stay in the cell. I could always continue my melting scheme, but now I was worried that I was being watched by someone who could sense me in the water just as well as I could sense others. Had someone else taken over my dad's palace while he was incapacitated? Were they friend or foe? Just because I thought that I had more control than being in Porky's tank didn't mean that I necessarily did. That water-magic was foreign to me, but this stuff was just the opposite - so familiar that I couldn't tell if another's will was around me or not.

Cooperating was the only way I'd find out more, I decided. I didn't have a lot of options, and I needed to find a way back to the others. If I could turn to water, I might be able to travel fast enough to get to Venice. But first I needed to get out of here.

I swam out of the cell and down the hall, trying to keep alert of everything around me. The other end of the hall split in a T shape, but only one door was open. A linear path. For all I knew, this could be leading to a battle arena where I had to duke it out with a monster just for someone's entertainment. It could be like that Supernatural episode where people were released just to be hunted down like wild game.

I continued down the halls, making a few turns, but I only had one direction to go. It was like Final Fantasy XIII or Final Fantasy X. Ah, corridor games.

Finally, I passed a pair of double doors that slammed closed behind me with a bang. The room beyond was large and open to the rest of the sea - as though the top of the building had long since collapsed and become ruins, but this architecture was deliberately meant to be that way. There were pillars like Roman columns surrounding the room, but you could easily swim through them if you wanted to. They circled around but weren't a closed loop, one end to my right leading out of the room and down a corridor - once again not completely closed by any means, but clearly suggesting a path to swim. There were numerous paths leading out, the one I had come through actually closed off and leading further into the palace.

This was the throne room, I realized.

In front of me was a large and thick column like a podium, six little volcanoes releasing bubbles in a ring around it. The entire area seemed to sparkle, and up above I saw lights and torches with WaterFire. I cautiously swam up, seeing the throne was occupied.

"Triton?!" I blurted.


	16. An Oceanic Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been in the land of Malec for the past week and have now returned!
> 
> I actually had this written earlier, but I still needed to add like, one more line of information before it could be posted. I did not realize this until comments started coming in and I got inspired. For my blindness, I blame concerts and tests that had to be made up for the judging thing that we had to do the day after said concert. And the homework that came from it.
> 
> The meeting after the Triton bit is Amalspach's (but I agreed wholeheartedly with the pocket thing - you'll understand when you get there).

First Person: Audrey

Triton.

The two-tailed, conch-shell-wielding, jealous jerk of a half-brother.

He looked young, obviously, with green skin and black hair tied into a ponytail. He wore his normal armor studded with pearls, sitting on the throne that our dad usually sat on. Triton had his own trident - obviously - floating beside him in the water, and his conch was sitting on the armrest of the throne next to him. He seemed far too comfortable in the position.

"What's this all about?" I demanded.

He rolled his eyes. "And a good day to you too, dear Audrey. It took you long enough to arrive."

"I'm waiting."

"Peace,  _sister_ ," He snarled. "Before you ask, which your rash, impulsive, blood-thirsty demigod self inevitably would have, no, I have not usurped the throne in father's absence. In the event that he was incapacitated under the current circumstances, it was declared that I would take temporary control of the kingdom."

"If you're a god, shouldn't you be having your  _own_  mid-life crisis right about now as well?"

"Triton, Triden, the difference is hardly relevant. The two names were used interchangeably throughout history, merely depending on the translations. Triden is seldom referred to - often mispronounced as Triton anyway - and the name is not nearly as influential as any major gods or most minor gods different halves are. In the Underworld, Death is also a neutral example of a lieutenant temporarily taking over in the havoc caused by our superiors' disability. Thanatos will be Death in any religion at any point in history, and even the Romans knew that changing Death was a fruitless endeavor. Referring to Death with a synonym makes no difference to who and what he is. In the skies? Well…I don't care much for the disarray Olympus is in."

I took a deep breath. "Okay, so what am I doing here? Haven't you ever heard that kidnapping is not good?"

He gave me a bored and even annoyed look. "You're here out of father's request."

"What? But I thought-"

"Yes, yes, he is struggling with his Greek and Roman forms. However, in his madness, he seems to have come to a conclusion on both sides." Triton gave me a piercing glare of resentment. "He needs to speak to  _you_."

"Me?"

He scoffed. "You're not deaf, correct?"

I crossed my arms. "Right, so where is he?"

"That is a secret I shall not disclose aloud. However, I shall put you into contact with him."

"Again, this required kidnapping  _because…?_ "

He let out a heavy sigh and sat up straighter on the throne. "I am the only one allowed any direct contact with father, and if you were to be brought to him, you first needed to be brought to me. You will be returned to your previous location without incident. If it pleases you, you will retain no memories of this encounter. I was merely given instruction to put you into contact with father. All else in between contains no information of import. Let us get this over with, simple and easy, so you can get back to your quest or whatever."

I rolled my eyes. Well, I guess I couldn't expect Triton to be a happy camper when it came to me or Percy - or really, any demigod of Poseidon. He hated how Poseidon had affairs with mortals, and he was like the undersea version of Hera. Accept  _he_  was just passive-aggressive while Hera was just plain aggressive-aggressive. Just look at Heracles. Still, Triton trying to act like an angsty and jealous teen was slightly entertaining.

"Then let's do this thing already."

He nodded and picked up his conch shell, putting it to his lips and blowing through it. The water rippled as the sound resonated through the ocean around me. I felt like I was standing on a giant speaker, the vibrations surging through me and I felt myself blackout.

* * *

I was in a sparkling blue dress, sitting on the beach.

The first thought I had about this turn of events, sadly, was, ' ** _Shoot, I'm going to get this thing soaking wet._** '

Which, you know. In addition to not being an issue for the rest of my life, getting a ballgown mildly soaked really should have been the least of my concerns at the moment.

Obviously, there was the lingering question of  _how the hell did I get here?_  - which was a valid inquiry. I didn't remember charting a plane from Venice to New York. If I was correct in my assessment that this was Montauk, and I certainly didn't remember purchasing a dress that probably costs more than my house. Seriously, it shimmered in shades of cerulean and azure that shouldn't have existed, changing hues and colors with each second. I squinted at the fabric; was it just me, or was it actually moving?

"Do you like it? It's made for protection," I heard ring out throughout the beach, and when I turned around, a man in Bermuda swim trunks and a truly hideous tropical button up was sitting in a folding chair, his feet resting at the edge of the surf, just touching the water where it lapped onto the shore.

Well. That explained a lot. None of this was real

"Hi…Poseidon," I tried, starting to choke up.

This was my dad, and this was the first time I'd ever seen him. There was so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted to share, and so much I wanted to hate him for. This was my father, the god of the seas, and  _now_ was the first time I'd get to converse with him. While he sits in a  _freaking_  lawn chair, smiling and enjoying what appeared to be a beautiful day at Montauk.

I wanted to…I don't know. I didn't know what I wanted, actually. I realized, in that moment, I had never really thought about Poseidon as my father. I already had one of those, and a mother and a brother, and I didn't feel the crushing emptiness that everybody else did when they thought about their godly parent. I hadn't needed a father figure.

And yet, now I wanted to say so much to him I could barely focus on all of it at once.

"Why her?" Was what I blurted out, though, and I found myself crossing my arms and wondering the biggest question of all: Why did he choose her? Why was I even here?

He sighed, straightening in his ridiculous chair.

"I'm waiting."

Probably not the smartest thing to say, but complacency had long since sailed. I deserved this, of all things.

"Your mother didn't know who I was," The god rumbled, adjusting in his chair. "But she was on her honeymoon with her husband, and they were out on the coast. I just…I'd refrained from mortals for so long, I couldn't remember what it felt like, being normal. And she - well, she was beautiful. He had gone in for the night, but she was looking out over the water, talking to herself about everything and anything. She seemed so…lonely, I suppose, too, and I couldn't help but listen from the waves. I'd seen them, days before, in their cabin during the trip. I knew what he looked like. I walked out, as him, and…" He trailed off, his smiling eyes dimming in memorabilia. "I'm not proud of it. Her memories were wiped before I sent her back inside. But I…I felt  _human_  again, and that was a powerful feeling. I realized I missed it, walking amongst them. And so, several months later, I visited New York again and ended up meeting Sally."

"Percy's mom," I breathed, and I almost couldn't believe it. "You met Percy's mom because of mine. He's my brother because of her."

The god nodded grimly. "Again, I'm not proud. But Sally was the best thing to happen to me in the last several centuries, and I can't bring myself to regret anything if it lead to me finding her." He gave me a sideways glance. "And, of course, it gave me my children. You cannot begin to imagine how grateful I am to have you here."

"You never tried to contact me. Not once. And yet I hear all this stuff about Percy getting this attention?"

He smiled sadly, reaching over to put a hand on my shoulder. I let him, though I had to refrain from pulling away. "I never stopped watching, though. I gave you your powers, your strengths. I couldn't visit, as your mother didn't know I existed. And you made it very clear you didn't want to know me, or let anybody else know your family." Poseidon gazed at me with unfiltered curiosity. "Why do you let them think you're adopted? You're the spitting image of your mother, down to the eyes. Strong genes, that - most of my children have mine. The identity of a god is so rarely overridden."

I vaguely felt as though I should be defending myself, but against what, I didn't know. "Well, yeah, I look like her. I never said outright that I was adopted, alright?"

He shrugged. "You let them believe you were. You never corrected them."

"I was already the outsider at school, okay? And it's because of my identity as a demigod. It was just…easier, I guess, to let them think I was adopted like Lu and Ve or something. I was lucky enough to get two parents who loved me, and it seemed wrong to rub it in everyone's face."

"Alright," He told me, accepting the explanation in stride.

No questions, no follow up discussion. It was as if he was more interested in how I would respond than the response itself. He just wanted to know what it would be like, talking to me. What  _I_ would be like.

That, more than anything else, probably told me a lot about my true father.

"So, the dress?" He mentioned again, gesturing at it.

I glanced at it again. "What about it?"

"Do you like it? I already asked you earlier," The sea god mused, fondness leaking into his voice.

"Oh, that. Yeah, it's gorgeous. I'd probably never be able to wear it in real life, though, outside of…whatever this is."

He shook his head, removing his hand from my shoulder. Honestly, I had forgotten it was there. "Not a problem, actually. You're a very level-headed girl, much more sensible than most of my brood. Let's see…" He snapped his fingers and the mighty dress twisted and contorted, becoming a practical jacket with its ever-shifting facets. "What do you think? Better?"

"It's got pockets," I muttered, eyes wide. "Like, more than two. Really nice, quality, deep pockets."

Yes, this is exactly what I said, sadly.

No, not 'Thank you' or 'Wow, amazing!' or even 'Cool,' but 'It's got pockets.'

I'm smart. I swear.

But really.  _Pockets_. It's an overlooked sentiment in girl's clothing, more times than not.

For that alone, I hugged my father.

He was warm and solid, remarkably real and sturdy between my arms. He seemed smaller this way, less of a god and more of the man he should have been. Like this, after giving me a stupid coat and sitting in an old foldable chair on the beach, he almost felt like someone I could learn to love, not just the all-powerful being who never even bothered to say 'Happy Birthday.'

"I'm glad you like the pockets," He finally said in a rumbling tone, deep and rich, and when I leaned back he was tearing up.

"You're not crying, are you?"

"Gods don't cry."

"No, that's grown men, according to our enlightened society. Technically you aren't one, so feel free. I'm not one to judge."

Poseidon laughed at that, and if a stray drop beaded down his face, I pretended not to notice. "It's incredible, seeing you in person after everything. Just look at you," He breathed, turning me around. "You're my daughter."

"Apparently so," I said, for what else was there to say? "Nice to meet you, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, too." He grinned again, laughing, and then the world shifted.

The sand stirred, the water shook, the skies grew grey, and my dad's face grew stony. For just a moment, his form flickered and I remembered - the Greek and Roman problems. I'd dreamed of meeting my dad, but never had I imagined him having conflicts being Poseidon or Neptune. He clapped his hands, a thunderous clamor overtaking Montauk, and the peace returned. His good nature did not.

"We don't have much time," Poseidon said, as though this wasn't already obvious. "Tell me, do you like horses?"

"Um…to look at? Because there weren't too many horses roaming the streets when I was in New York, and when I moved we didn't exactly get to ride any, either. But sure, I guess." I paused, adjusting my jacket. "Might I ask why?"

He picked up a patch of sea foam and blew into it, gently pressing the bundle together in his hands. And then, suddenly, he threw it into the air, and before my very eyes, it transformed, glowing and expanding until it was something very special.

"It's a pegasus," I blurted, because amongst my other vast talents - sarcasm, being reasonably intelligent, self-deprivation, music, and art, to name a few - I possessed a coveted ability to state the obvious.

However, this was a pegasus like no other. For starters, it was a brilliant white, with irises of sterling silver. Its mane and tail flowed around the majestic creature like liquid water floating in midair, its hair itself a mess of blues and purples and greens.

"It will be known as Ariel, the champion. The name has stood for light and altar, and means 'Lion of god' in most modern languages. It's fitting for a noble beast such as this one. She will serve you well."

I blinked. "And, in the world of Disney, it represents the Little Mermaid," I added. Poseidon stared at me blankly and I realized the flaw in my comment. "Right. You should watch that movie, by the way. It's hilariously inaccurate."

"Take care of her and she will take care of you," He reiterated instead of responding, gripping my hands tightly. "I created her to help you on your journey. She shares your abilities and more, and now she is bonded to you, Audrey. Protect your friends."

"I will. I'll lead them best I can, I swear."

The beach shuddered again. This vision was dissolving.

I shivered, despite the warm weather, and my hair continued to flow in the nonexistent breeze.

"You'll be gone any second now, but I want you to do something for me."

I locked eyes with him. You can't just say no to a request from the gods, even if it's from your own father. "Alright, what?"

"You're a writer, right?" I nodded dumbly, clearly confused. His features softened, the wrinkles smoothing out. "Write me something. Send it to me. I'd love to read what you do after watching you work for so long." He leaned forwards, rising up out of his chair. His lips brushed my forehead and the mighty god sighed. "I love all my children, including you. However, I'm not always proud of them. I want you to know that I'm very proud of  _you_. I know you don't hear that nearly enough." Lightning crackled up above. He ran a hand across my cheek one last time. "I'm so sorry for what's ahead of you."

And just like that, he dissolved into wisps of vapor, falling into the ocean.

"What did you-?"

* * *

My eyes snapped open and I realized I was underwater - upside-down underwater. Venice, right. Triton must've thought it would be funny to leave me waking up disoriented in the vile Venetian canal. I would've wondered how he got me from Venice to the palace and back, but I learned that a lot of things should just be explained as 'Deus ex Machina' - quite literally.

I flipped myself right-side-up and swam up out of the murky warm water. I broke the surface, taking a deep breath. Ugh, this water was disgusting. I filtered out the saltwater and felt a little better, cleaning the gross water off of me. I looked around and saw that I was beside the same bridge that Frank had been fighting on.

I rose out of the water to see that only a single monster was left. Frank faced it with his sword drawn. He was out of breath, sweaty, and caked in monster dust, but he was unharmed. I was genuinely stunned at the scene. I don't know how long I had been gone, but Frank had taken on hundreds of those katoblepones all on his own. The final katobleps snarled. It must not have been the smartest monster, since, despite the fact that several hundred of its brethren had just died, it did not back down.

"Mars!" Frank yelled. "I've proven myself. Now I need a snake!"

I doubted anyone had ever shouted those words before, and it was admittedly a weird request when taken out of context. He got no answer from the skies. For once, the voices in his head seemed to have gone silent. Maybe  _they_  were getting over the shock as well.

The katobleps lost patience. It launched itself at Frank and left him no choice. He slashed upward, but as soon as his blade hit the monster, the katobleps disappeared in a flash of blood-red light. When my vision cleared, a mottled brown Burmese python was coiled at Frank's feet.

"Well done."

Standing a few feet away was his dad, Mars, wearing a red beret and olive fatigues with the insignia of the Italia Special Forces, an assault rifle slung over his shoulder. His face was hard and angular, his eyes covered with dark sunglasses.

"Father…" Frank managed.

He seemed to just realize what he'd done, the terror starting to catch up to him. He felt like sobbing, but that might not be a good idea in front of Mars.

"It's natural to feel fear," The war god said, his voice surprisingly warm, full of pride. "All great warriors are afraid. Only the stupid and the delusional are not. But you faced your fear, my son. You did what you had to do, like Horatius. This was your bridge, and you defended it."

Frank's mouth opened but nothing came out. He tried again, stuttering, trying to come up with what to say. "I…I just needed a snake."

A tiny smile tugged at Mars's mouth. "Yes. And now you have one. Your bravery has united my forms, Greek and Roman, if only for a moment. Go. Save your friends. But hear me, Frank. Your greatest test is yet to come. When you face the armies of Gaea at Epirus, your leadership-"

Suddenly, the god doubled over, clutching his head. His form flickered - his fatigues turned into a toga, then a biker's jacket and jeans, his rifle changing into a sword and then a rocket launcher. Wait, so the fatigues were the outfit of Ares/Mars combined and these two were now Ares and Mars's outfits separately? Did that mean we should be coming up with names for the combined Greek and Roman gods as a whole third personality?

"Agony!" Mars bellowed. "Go! Hurry!"

Frank didn't ask questions. Despite his exhaustion, he turned into a giant eagle, snatched up the python in his massive claws, and launched himself into the air. Ares/Mars went nuclear, blowing up with the force of a bomb that created a miniature mushroom cloud, erupting from the middle of the bridge with rings of fire washing outward and causing me to explode into water.

A pair of voices - Mars and Ares - screamed, "Nooo!"

Well, great then. I hurried through the waters of Venice, making my way through the canals before I arrived at The Black House. I saw Frank flying his way over the city - now completely empty of monsters, and joining me as we hurried for the house of Triptolemus. There was something different about Frank, but I chalked it down to his adrenaline rush and desperation to save Hazel kicking in.

"You found one!" The farmer god exclaimed.

Frank ignored him. He stormed into La Casa Nera, dragging the python by its tail like a very strange Santa Claus bag, and dropped it next to the bed. He knelt at Hazel's side. She was still alive - green and shivering, barely breathing, but alive. As for Nico and Veon, they were still corn plants.

" _Hey, look, he didn't die!_ " Chuck exclaimed, his image appearing next to me.

"Heal them," Frank demanded. "Now."

Triptolemus crossed his arms. "How do I know the snake will work?"

Frank gritted his teeth. Mars and Ares seemed to have gone silent in his head, but he still seemed to have their combined anger churning inside him. Now that we were inside the house, I was able to put into perspective what had changed about Frank. I had a feeling that Trip wasn't going to stand a chance against Frank anymore.

"The snake is a gift from Mars!" I blurted. "It will work!"

Chuck kneeled and patted the snake, pointing to the chariot, and the snake responded. The Burmese python slithered over to the chariot and wrapped itself around the right wheel. Chuck walked over and tapped the other snake on the head, waking it up. The two serpents checked each other out, touching noses, then turned their wheels in unison. Aw, python love. The chariot inched forward, its wings flapping.

"You see?" Frank growled. "Now, heal my friends!"

Triptolemus tapped his chin. "Well, thank you for the snake, but I'm not sure I like your tone, demigod. Perhaps I'll turn you into-"

Frank was faster. He lunged at Trip and slammed him into the wall, his fingers locked around the god's throat. I'm not ashamed to say that I jumped in terror.

"Think about your next words," Frank warned, deadly calm. "Or instead of beating my sword into a plowshare, I will beat it into your head."

Triptolemus gulped. "You know…I think I'll heal your friends."

" _Told you a little scare-tactics will work,_ " Chuck said.

"Swear it on the River Styx!" I added.

"I swear it on the River Styx."

Frank released him. Triptolemus touched his throat, as if making sure it was still there. He gave Frank a nervous smile, edged around him, and scurried off to the front room.

"Just - just gathering herbs!" He called.

Wow, Frank had reduced him to a terrified wimp. I kinda felt sorry for the guy. Having to resort to threats to get what we wanted was a risky business, but it also made us seem like the bad guys, running around and forcing our way.

We watched as the god picked leaves and roots and crushed them in a mortar. He rolled a pill-sized ball of green goop and jogged to Hazel's side. He placed the gunk ball under Hazel's tongue. Instantly, she shuddered and sat up, coughing. Her eyes flew open, the greenish tint in her skin disappearing.

She looked around, bewildered, until she saw Frank. "What-?"

Frank tackled her in a hug. "You're going to be fine," He said fiercely. "Everything is fine."

"But…" Hazel gripped his shoulders and stared at him in amazement. "Frank, what  _happened_  to you?"

"To  _me?_ " He stood, suddenly self-conscious. "I don't…"

Frank looked down and just seemed to realize he'd gotten taller. His gut had shrunk and his chest seemed bulkier. I'd had growth spurts before - once I'd woken up to find I was two centimeters taller than when I'd fallen asleep - but that was nothing compared to Frank. It was as if some of the dragon and lion had stayed with him when he'd turned back to human. Then again, if shape-shifters could transform into anything they wanted, growing taller should've been on that list.

"Uh…I don't…maybe I can fix it."

Hazel laughed with delight. "Why? You look amazing!"

"I…I do?"

"I mean, you were handsome before!" She quickly added. "But you look older, and taller, and so distinguished-"

Triptolemus heaved a dramatic sigh. "Yes, obviously some sort of blessing from Mars. Congratulations, blah, blah, blah. Now, if we're done here…?"

I glared at him. "We're not done. Heal Nico and Veon!"

The farm god rolled his eyes. He pointed at the corn plants and BAM! Nico di Angelo and Zytaveon Kanazoi appeared in an explosion of corn silk. Veon looked like he just had a bucket of cold water dumped on him (not that I'd ever done that to him before, I swear) and looked like he was trying to brace himself to get a punch to the face.

Nico looked around in a panic. "I…I had the weirdest nightmare about popcorn."

"Trust me, I will  _never_  look at popcorn the same way," Veon shivered. "Why is it that our step-mom and now  _he_  has to give me plant-PTSD? At this rate, I'm going to have a phobia."

Nico frowned at Frank. "Why are you  _taller?_ "

"Everything's fine," Frank promised. "Triptolemus was about to tell us how to survive the House of Hades. Weren't you, Trip?"

The farm god raised his eyes to the ceiling, like, ' _Why me, Demeter?_ '

"Fine," Trip said. "When you arrive at Epirus, you will be offered a chalice to drink from."

"Offered by whom?" Nico asked.

"Doesn't matter," Trip snapped. "Just know that it is filled with deadly poison."

Hazel shuddered. "So you're saying that we shouldn't drink it."

"No! You  _must_  drink it, or you'll never be able to make it through the temple. The poison connects you to the world of the dead, lets you pass into the lower levels. Maybe the Violin over there could make it, but the rest of you need the secret to surviving it." His eyes twinkled. " _Barley._ "

We stared at him. "Barley," I repeated.

"In the front room, take some of my special barley. Make it into little cakes. Eat these before you step into the House of Hades. The barley will absorb the worst of the poison, so it will  _affect_  you, but not kill you."

"That's it?" Nico demanded. "Hecate sent us halfway across Italy so you could tell us to eat barley?"

"Special barley," Veon added.

"Good luck!" Triptolemus sprinted across the room and hopped in his chariot. "And, Frank Zhang, I forgive you! You've got spunk. If you ever change your mind, my offer is open. I'd love to see you get a degree in farming!"

"Yeah," Frank muttered. "Thanks."

The god pulled a lever on his chariot. The snake-wheels turned and the wings flapped. At the back of the room, the garage doors rolled open.

"Oh, to be mobile again!" Trip cried. "So many ignorant lands in need of my knowledge. I will teach them the glories of tilling, irrigation, fertilizing!" The chariot lifted off and zipped out of the house, Triptolemus shouting to the sky, "Away, my serpents! Away!"

"What was that about Mr. C?" I muttered.

"That," Hazel said, "was very strange."

"The glories of fertilizing." Nico brushed some corn silk off his shoulder. "Can we get out of here now?"

Hazel put her hand on Frank's shoulder. "Are you okay, really? You bartered for our lives. What did Triptolemus make you do?"

Frank looked like he was trying to hold it together, and subsequently scolding himself for feeling so weak. He could face an army of monsters, but as soon as Hazel showed him kindness, he wanted to break down and cry.

"Those cow monsters…the katoblepones that poisoned you…I had to destroy them."

"That was brave," Nico said. "There must have been, what, six or seven left in that herd."

"No," I intervened, clearing my throat. "All of them. He killed  _all_  of them in the entire city. Just a couple hundred or so…"

The three children of the death god stared between us in stunned silence. For a moment, I worried that they would doubt him, but then again we'd seen a lot of surprising things in our lives. But they believed him. They were children of the Underworld. Maybe they could sense the death and carnage he'd waded through.

Hazel kissed his cheek. She had to stand on her tiptoes to do it now. Her eyes were incredibly sad, as if she realized something had changed in Frank - something much more important than the physical growth spurt. Frank knew it too. He would never be the same. He just wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

"Well," Nico said, breaking the tension. "Does anyone know what barley looks like?"

Veon walked into the front room, the rest of us following, and quickly grabbed a light brown grain that I might've mistaken for rice or beans. He pulled a plastic sandwich bag out of the bag at his hip and started filling it with all the barley he could.

"Are you sure that's it?" Hazel asked.

"What part of plant-PTSD do you not understand? When you spend a solid six months in the Underworld during winter, Persephone likes to pop in for visits."

He shuddered at the thought.

"Well then," I said. "Let's get baking."

* * *

When we arrived back on the ship, we explained everything that had happened - Frank's final boss battle and stat boost, Nico and Veon's tragic veggification (and subsequent return to the death boys we knew and tolerated), and the barley cakes that we had to make.

"I think I can handle the cooking," I said.

"I can help!" Emily volunteered.

Kaze said something that sounded like he was impressed, before Veon tapped the orb hanging at the base of his neck on his necklace. " ** _-huh? I want to take on an army of monsters too!_** "

"The orbs need to charge up with Mist," Veon informed us. "Depending on the distance we're trying to communicate from, how many people we're contacting, and for how long, they will need time to recharge afterwards. And I don't know the draw distance on them either. They're in beta. For now, Kaze can temporarily communicate, but it'll leave him vulnerable to a shut down when the thing runs out of power - risking him being unable to communicate with us possibly in crucial moments. Emily, you can try and get the remaining orbs to their owners tonight, right?"

She nodded. "I can certainly try."

"They're constantly charging with whatever magic is around them, and since we haven't used them yet, they currently have the most power within them. If that's enough to contact the others, well…only one way to find out, right?"

"At least we've got a plan for the House of Hades," Jason said.

"We've got our path, we've got a lot more information than we had before, and we sort of have a plan," Piper agreed.

"Sort of having a plan is how I like it, beauty queen," Leo declared.

"Hazel, how is your Mist training going?" I asked.

Hazel looked down, rolling a gem between her fingers absentmindedly. "It's…a work in progress. It takes a lot of concentration, but I can  _feel_  the Mist. Just a little bit. Each time Veon and I have a training session, I seem to be getting better at sensing it - and faster as well. Actually  _using_  it…that's the hard part."

"You're making a lot of progress," Veon assured her. "It was never meant to be a fast process - learning your powers never is."

She looked unconvinced. Piper broke in with a light comment, and Emily encouraged it, the two of them working to brighten the mood. Leo was happy to jump on that bandwagon, and soon all of us found ourselves in a warmer conversation about what kind of monster would be the best pet if we could tame them.

"A Tonberry," Veon declared.

"Those don't exist in real life, Ve," I pointed out.

"Every other creature we encounter shouldn't exist in real life. How do you know they don't exist and we just can't see them because of some new form of Mist that's not Olympian?"

That got into a whole new argument, but it was nice to have a lighthearted conversation for once. Spirits seemed to be higher than they had been for a while now, and it was good to have a warm discussion around the room without the impending doom mentioned.

From deep beneath the floorboards, however, came the sound of hoofbeats across the floor, directly where the stables should be. A nearly-deafening whinny could be heard through the deck.

Nico, scowling, jumped back, his sword already drawn out. Piper readied her dagger, and Jason his sword, Frank his bow, and so on. Instead of preparing, though, I collapsed to the ground, laughing hysterically. It had been a day, alright?

The others stared in confusion and alarm.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Questioned Leo, surprisingly serious for once.

I beamed, trying to dial down the hysterics.

"No, it's just that it's good to be back, even though the beach was nice."

"The beach?" He echoed.

"The beach," I confirmed, ruffling his hair. "Oh, you guys are going to love Ariel."


	17. A Deadly Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was tired when I wrote this, trying to get my point out while also working to study for like, 20 finals at the same time - one of which being a speaking test in Spanish, and no offense Spanish-speakers, but I am terrible at Spanish.
> 
> So yeah, this month is stuffed full of testing, and updates will be slow, if not non-existent since I don't want to put out bad and quickly-made content as opposed to slower and more thought-out ones. This is the part of the story I've been waiting for since I started, and I don't want to forget anything important or dim down the intensity that I had planned.
> 
> I will hopefully have remedied the problem by June, and I'll also go back and see if I can fix my tired work. (P.S. reviews give me inspiration - shameless request for feedback)
> 
> I just love writing the fiction for my own amusement, and if other people are entertained as well, then great. Either way, I won't stop writing for myself and any of those bonus followers.
> 
> For now, enjoy!
> 
> :)

First Person: Zytaveon

" _Yo, kid. Get up. Zeek-a-vie-on!_ "

I sighed and threw a pillow at the voice, but it hit the wall because he was technically just in my head.

" _Don't be so dramatic. This is serious!_ "

"What?" I grumbled.

" _It's Chaos, I can feel him! I need to get to him! Get up!_ "

I tried to process what he was saying, before understanding that it was important and trying to force myself awake. Chuck tried to help drag me out of bed faster, but his hands kept on ghosting out on me, sometimes solid, sometimes not so, and sometimes in between. I followed the glowing white figure of myself out of my room and down the hall before he stopped at another room and rushed through the door. After a few moments, the lock on the door clicked, and I was too sleep deprived to care that Chuck was currently breaking into someone else's room.

It got a bit weird when I realized that this was Emily's room, and now I could officially be called a creeper for breaking into a teenage girl's room in the middle of the night while being a male teenager in turn. Chuck dragged me over to her bed (this was never going to be spoken of to  _anyone_ , especially Audrey!) and I saw that she was deathly still.

I focused and realized that her soul was being disrupted. Chuck ran over to her and put his hand through her chest and she started to spasm, dark mist spilling out of her and surrounding her in a cloud of darkness.

"Em! Hey, what are you doing, Chuck?!"

" _Come on, C. Please…_ " He muttered. " _Get over here, boy! I need your physical body!_ "

I felt him pulling me with all the power he could muster, and if I resisted, I knew I'd be able to break free, but I went to help him anyway.

" _Just put your hand on hers. Contact should be enough._ "

I put my hand into the dark cloud where I could barely make out the silhouette of Emily and took her hand. The darkness started crawling up both mine and Chuck's arm, but he didn't seem scared. In fact, he encouraged it.

" _Yes! Yes, Chaos, I'm here!_ "

I tried not to panic as the dark cloud engulfed me, my head spinning as it seemed to close in and absorb into my skin.

* * *

We were standing in gray. It was like that limbo place where me and my father talked, but it felt scarier, more powerful. An inky white liquid formed from the surrounding grayness and then shaped itself into a person - similar to how my Kako worked. Finally, it solidified into a…well, a sort of man. He was like looking into a projector light. Even though I could see him, and there wasn't necessarily light coming off of him, he was hard to look at. I instinctively felt as though looking at him would burn my eyes out knew that I had to look away.

When I did, I saw that behind him, the world seemed to fade from gray to white. Back in the opposite directing, a distance away, the gray did the opposite and faded to black. The same process as before happened and another form began to shape from a black liquid, now completely reminiscent of my tar.

" _Chaos!_ "

The blinding man ran past, his voice booming and making my head pound. I felt a ringing in my ears and held my hand out in front of me to find that it had come back with blood. I felt my breathing getting ragged too, and I knew that soon I wouldn't be able to breathe. I had a feeling that this wasn't a place where I should be. I couldn't remember what the man's voice sounded like or what he looked like, but I knew that I didn't want to.

He ran over to where the other form had turned into a woman of sorts, but in all honesty, I couldn't tell the difference between them or their genders. I looked elsewhere because I felt their combined auras becoming dangerously strong. Over in another direction, I saw someone else that wasn't the powerful beings.

"Emily?" I called, but my voice sounded muffled like it was underwater and my throat burned from the effort.

I ran over and saw that it was someone else - someone with black hair, in her normal jeans, green jacket, her belt of weapons, and her T-shirt that said " _Angels dream of one thing, to be human_ " with a feather and Angeal's Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core.

"Lu?"

Her eyes were closed, almost as though she was asleep, but she was kneeling in a purposeful position. I dropped down in front of her and gently shook her shoulders. The moment I did, she surged to life, gasping and falling back with a thud, her eyes darting around in panic. She looked terrified and held her hand to lash out at any moment.

"Hey! Hey, it's me!" I shouted, holding my hands out in surrender.

She stared at me for a long moment, breathing hard and not dropping her hand. "V-Veon?"

"Yeah. I'm here."

"Where are we?" She asked, looking around frantically. She winced when she turned in the direction of the two Primordials. "Ugh, stupid true forms." She blinked a couple of times and held her hand over her eyes before looking back up at me. "Wait, how are we here? Are they back together?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

She stood and held her hands to my temples. "You're dying." She moved her other hand to her own head. "It's killing us."

" _Order?_ "

The two of us winced as the single word surged through the area and seemed to tear through us, knocking us both down together.

" _You're here._ "

" _I'm here._ "

There were the pounding sounds of sobs from one or both of them, and I tasted blood as I struggled to breathe. I vaguely processed Lu by my side, her hands at her head as she pulled into the fetal position and screamed to make it stop. I had never seen her so afraid and weak, but though I felt the urge to help, she seemed to be in better condition than I was.

The two Primordials were having a reunion that I might've been sentimental about if I weren't busy dying painfully. I felt my soul inside taking damage boiling like a living creature put in a microwave.

I couldn't focus on anything until I heard screaming that intensified the pain ten-fold.

" _No! Don't let go!_ "

" _No, no! NO! Don't leave me!_ "

" _Chaos!_ " " _Order!_ "

The world faded, or maybe I was just passing out from lack of oxygen and dying, but I knew that the world around me was gone.

* * *

First Person: Lucy

You know something? I decided that it wasn't going to be the monsters, the poisonous atmosphere, nor the treacherous landscape with its pits, cliffs, and jagged rocks that would kill me. The Primordials were trying real hard to make it to a close second. Nope. You know what would kill me? The sheer overload of  _weirdness_ that governed my life would make my brain explode.

Drinking fire to stay alive, being attacked by a gaggle of vampires - led by a cheerleader, no less - and then being rescued by Chaos shouting for a Titan janitor named Bob who had Einstein hair, silver eyes, and wicked broom skills.  _That_  was nothing compared to what I was seeing before me now.

Ithuriel had pulled me outside of the coffee shop, before suddenly we lurched forward as though we'd stepped onto a fast treadmill, before I found myself standing in a large closet - Hannah Montana style. There were clothes all over the place, nothing too sparkly like one of those pop-star places you'd see on TV, but still more clothes than I'd ever owned in my entire life. This entire closet was larger than my apartment in New Rome.

Ithuriel practically dived into one of the racks. "I have the  _perfect_  outfit for you!"

I was still looking around in awe at the sheer vastness of the room that had to have been an entire department store's worth of clothing. Back when I was pretending to be a normal teenager, I had a grand total of six pairs of pants and 15 shirts at most - a pair of jeans for each day of the week and then an extra in case I needed to go anywhere on the weekend, and a few extra shirts that I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of in case I needed them for a special occasion.

Then, it occurred to me how this nerdy god had a closet worthy of Aphrodite as well as an attitude towards fashion rivaling her as well.

Ithuriel came back into view holding a silky white dress. It wasn't a long one that went to my ankles, but rather one that went down to my knees. It had a drop-waist - my preferred style since I didn't often wear dresses and so I was used to having jeans and pants with waistbands at my hips rather than my actual waist. It also didn't have sleeves, but instead covered up my chest over the top of my shoulders and then down my back. I'll admit that it was appealing, even though I didn't like dresses.

"It's got pockets too!" Ithuriel exclaimed, slipping his hand into a pocket in the skirt.

Sold!

I took it from him and he beamed. "Oh, I've always wanted to dress you up!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I know you're not a doll kind of girl, and I'm not someone like that either," Ithuriel continued like he hadn't heard me. "But I've always wanted to have some time with my daughter, and I'm not really sure how I imagined it. This is what parents do, right? Help their children dress up for fancy events?"

"Um…I  _guess?_  Have we had any time together before?"

He looked to me in confusion. "Have we?"

"Uh…"

"I guess never alone," Ithuriel added quickly. "But I'm not very good at this human thing. In any case, you look beautiful already, but this is a special occasion."

He snapped and pointed to me and in a flash I was suddenly wearing the dress, though my feet were bare. I always liked the feeling of being barefoot with a dress flowing down my legs. I could be barefoot with pants or even shorts on rare occasions, but the movement of a dress just nice - not that I want too much of it or the high would wear off.

"Now, let's get you some shoes, do some makeup, and get some jewelry!" Ithuriel exclaimed.

I couldn't tell if I was horrified or not. Ithuriel seemed to be that guy in the comedy show labeled as 'Gay.' I mean, I guess he  _was_ , technically, but being a god kinda made that title worthless. Not that I didn't like those carefree characters - they were fun, but the fact that I currently had to be the subject of a doll-like makeover by one of them seemed terrifying.

"What about you?" I asked. "What are you gonna do for…dad?"

Ithuriel froze in realization. "Hmm… I don't really know. I'm not good at human fashion."

"How about I help you find your outfit before we move on, okay?"

"Sure!"

Ithuriel turned and walked over to another section of the large closet, and I moved to follow, but my vision blurred, and I swayed to collapse onto the soft carpet beneath me.

"Rei? Rei-!"

But Ithuriel's voice faded as I blacked out for some nice rest.

* * *

I woke up comfortably slung over a large Titan's shoulder. I saw Annabeth first, walking behind Bob where I could see her while I was flopped over like a dead fish. Percy was next to her not far away, taking her hand and gently squeezing it while giving soft smiles, trying to comfort her as they walked. He had to be just as scared and miserable as she was, and she must've loved him for trying to make her feel better.

I felt a surge of jealousy - not because I wanted Percy's affection, but from the fact that I had never gotten the chance to properly date Veon. Having a Primordial within you while also being out of touch with any romantic attraction whatsoever made loving really hard for me. Or perhaps it was just my own pride. In any case, I'd never wanted to be with him more. Being with him in that land of peace was nice, but those moments while we were trapped alone in a dangerous place, relying on each other but not necessarily in a battle…I guess it felt closer than any kind of relaxation.

I felt the heat of the Phlegethon beside the route we were taking, approaching the storm front of darkness. Gargling the battery acid that was the Phlegethon was keeping them alive, but definitely wasn't a nice process. The two of them were comforting each other, and Percy was trying to assure her that things would be fine. If only I had someone to tell me that.

"Bob knows what he's doing," Percy promised.

"You have interesting friends," Annabeth murmured.

"Bob is interesting!" The Titan turned and grinned. "Yes, thank you!"

The big guy had good ears. Something to keep in mind in case we say something that the Titan would get upset over. But Bob was pretty domesticated. I was unsure of whether he'd understand most insults thrown his way. After Bob's encounter with the Lethe, I could sense he was suffering from severe retrograde amnesia - unable to remember anything before his memory wipe. Above that, the Lethe wasn't very subtle when it came to doing its work - especially on a Titan that could survive a full dunk. Bob's mind was broken in a way that only time could possibly repair, and I wasn't experienced with Titan medical stuff.

I let the Titan drop me to my feet, wanting to wake myself up, and walked beside the group.

"So, Bob…" Annabeth began, trying to sound casual and friendly, which wasn't easy with a throat scorched by firewater. "How did you get to Tartarus?"

"I jumped," He said, like it was obvious.

"You jumped into Tartarus…because Percy and Lu said your name?"

"They needed me." His silvery eyes gleamed in the darkness. "It is okay. I was tired of sweeping the palace. Come along! We are almost at a rest stop."

A rest stop. I wondered what that meant. I couldn't imagine what those words meant in Tartarus. I remembered the years surviving on my own, relying on highway rest stops when I was a homeless demigod trying to survive. I had to be careful and avoid traps that were placed by the government that wanted to recapture me. My name and face were plastered across the news, saying that a man had mugged my father and killed him, but I managed to get away and the police were worried that I was kidnapped. Good people who wanted to turn me in to get help didn't know any better, I knew that, but they wouldn't believe me when I told them what the government people had tried to do to me - said it was my little overactive imagination making me see danger where there wasn't any.

It was a lonely life, living as a demigod on your own. Not only did people not believe you when you said there were monsters around, but with the government on my tail as well, wanting to capture demigods in Eurasia, even the mortals were against me. Nothing was safe. That's the world I grew up knowing. There was even a time when I considered abandoning Kaze the moment that we were free together, but it was only because of his cunning that we managed to escape. It took a long time for us to go off the radar, and I kept him around just so that he could help stable my life again - make sure we avoided the man-hunt that began when our escape was found out about - but then I realized that we needed each other, and I was just so tired of being alone.

Wherever Bob was taking us, I hoped it had clean restrooms and a snack machine. I repressed the urge to laugh. This was so stupid. My world had fallen apart a long time ago. My misery had felt so…light while I had Order within me. I even managed to live a somewhat normal life for a few years. Now that everything has come crashing down again, I don't know what to think. I must be going crazy again.

I hobbled along, trying to ignore the pain in my head, the rumble in my stomach, and the soreness of my legs. My aching feet were really my own fault for letting Bob drop me, but it was a liberating pain, distracting me from the pounding in my head. It wasn't like a migraine or a normal headache. It felt like someone pounding on my mental walls, the barriers that I'd put up a long time ago to forget things that I never wanted to remember again. That I don't think I  _could_  remember. Again, it felt like I was out of practice since I hadn't worried about my mental walls with the goddess inside me.

Bob led us towards the wall of darkness, now only a few hundred yards away. His blue janitor's coveralls were ripped between the shoulder blades, as if someone had tried to stab him. Cleaning rags stuck out of his pocket and a squirt bottle swung from his belt, the blue liquid inside sloshing hypnotically.

I remembered the story of how Percy, Thalia, and Nico had worked together to defeat Bob on the banks of the Lethe. After wiping his memory, they didn't have the heart to kill him. He became so gentle and sweet and cooperative that they left him at the palace of Hades, where Persephone promised he would be looked after. Apparently, the Underworld king and queen thought 'looking after' someone meant giving him a broom and having him sweep up their messes. I wondered how even Hades could be so callous - but I suppose he didn't really know what else he could do with Bob. The Titan didn't have the mental capacity to do anything too advanced, and he probably didn't understand the idea of being paid before either. Brainwashing an immortal didn't really happen every day, so Hades must not have had many ideas besides turning him into an unpaid janitor.

Although it wasn't like Bob seemed particularly unhappy with his job. He said that it was repetitive when people only ever called for him to clean things up, but when I had asked him if he had any dreams beyond his job, back when I had visited him, he said that he didn't know anything better. His simple and routine life was enough for him.

I worried about what would happen if Bob suddenly remembered himself. Tartarus was where monsters came to regenerate. What if it healed his memory? If he became Iapetus again…well, we'd seen how he had dealt with those empousai. Annabeth had no weapon, she and Percy were in no condition to fight a Titan, and who knows what I'd be able to do against him. The broom he had was cool, but facing the receiving end of the hidden spearhead didn't seem very appealing - especially in my weakened state.

But Chaos trusted the Titan to look after us, and I could only hope she was in her right mind when she did so. Following Bob through Tartarus was probably a crazy risk, but I didn't have a better plan in mind.

We picked our way across the ashen wasteland as red lightning flashed overhead in the poisonous clouds. Just another lovely day in the dungeon of creation. Was it too much to ask to hope that Lightning from FFXIII: Lightning Returns was up in those clouds?

I couldn't see very far in the hazy air, but the longer we walked, the more certain I became that the entire landscape was a downward curve. There were conflicting descriptions of Tartarus back in the mortal world. Sometimes it was a bottomless pit, sometimes it was a fortress surrounded by brass walls, and sometimes it was nothing but an endless void. My 10th grade history teacher had us make maps of Tartarus, giving us a document that said it was the Underworld where Hades ruled with Persephone - complete with the Fields of Asphodel, Elysium, the Isle of the Blessed, and the Fields of Punishment. Sights include Tantalus trapped in his river with his fruit and water barely out of reach, Sisyphus, eternally rolling that darn rock up a hill, and the three judges Rhadamanthus, Minos, and Aeacus!

How wrong that had been. Tartarus was a deeper layer of the Underworld, a deeper and dangerous one not meant for mortal souls. One story described it as the inverse of the sky - a huge, hollow, upside-down dome of rock. That seemed the most accurate, though if Tartarus was a dome, I guessed it was like the sky - with no real bottom but made of multiple layers, each one darker and less hospitable than the last. And even  _that_ didn't seem to be the full, horrible truth…

We passed a blister in the ground - a writhing, translucent bubble the size of a minivan. Curled inside was the half-formed body of a drakon. Bob speared the blister without a second thought. It burst in a geyser of steaming yellow slime, and the drakon dissolved into nothing. Bob kept walking. Monsters are zits on the skin of Tartarus. Wonderful. Ugh, sometimes I wish I didn't have such a good imagination, because now I was getting phantom cringes from the fact that we were walking across a living thing. This whole twisted landscape - the dome, pit, or whatever you call it - was the body of the god Tartarus, the most ancient incarnation of evil unless you wanted to count Chaos, but let's be honest she didn't like what her son became thanks to Gaea's influence and was  _way_  nicer.

Just as Gaea inhabited the surface of the earth, Tartarus inhabited the pit. I wondered if he could notice us walking across his skin, like fleas on a dog. I had no doubt that he was watching over me, but I had no idea what he wanted. Chaos just barely had enough influence to take me to the dream world, but it seemed as though Tartarus hadn't played any cards whatsoever. Chaos and Order both made it clear that facing Tartarus's 'trials' would be closer to pure torture to get your soul to surrender to him. Facing someone so powerful with nothing but your little human soul didn't sound like a fair fight by any means, and I had no doubt that if I even stood a small chance, I wouldn't have more than two before I lost my strength in a best-case scenario.

"Here," Bob said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

We stopped at the top of a ridge. Below us, in a sheltered depression like a moon crater, stood a ring of broken black marble columns surrounding a dark stone altar.

"Hermes's shrine," Bob explained.

Percy frowned. "A Hermes shrine in  _Tartarus?_ "

Bob laughed in delight. "Yes!"

"It must've fallen here from somewhere long ago," I said. "Maybe the mortal world, maybe Olympus. Anyway, monsters should steer clear. Mostly."

"How would you know this?" Percy asked.

"I…I'm not sure," I admitted. "I just seem to know. Probably read it somewhere."

"How did you know it was here, Bob?" Annabeth asked.

Bob's smile faded. He got a vacant look in his eyes. "Can't remember."

"That's okay," Percy said quickly.

Before Bob because Bob, he had been Iapetus the Titan. Like all his brethren, he'd been imprisoned in Tartarus for eons; of  _course_  he knew his way around. If he remembered this shrine, he might start recalling other details of his old prison and his old life. That would  _not_  be good.

"Let's just count our blessings that we have this here," I continued. "Anyone up for more climbing? Well, if you aren't, too bad."

We lowered into the crater and entered the circle of columns. Annabeth collapsed on a broken slab of marble, too exhausted to take another step. Percy stood over her protectively, scanning the surroundings. The inky storm front was less than a hundred feet away now, obscuring everything ahead of us. The crater's rim blocked our view of the wasteland behind. We'd be well hidden here, but if monsters  _did_  stumble across us, we would have no warning.

"You said someone was chasing us," Annabeth said. "Who?"

Bob swept his broom around the base of the altar, occasionally crouching to study the ground as if looking for something. "They are following, yes. They know you are here. Giants and Titans. The defeated ones. They know."

I sighed. How many Titans and giants had been fought over the years? Each one had seemed like an impossible challenge, but Annabeth and Percy weren't the only ones who had faced their fair share of monsters. Not just small monsters, but I had helped fight during the previous war. Zyanya - Order - had made me keep completely hidden, so no one knew about my help, but I had been there. It had been entertaining, being the silent hero, and it saved me from the boredom of the normal life Zyanya had forced me to live to find the other demigods. Now, I didn't have the power that she could give me, every Titan and even the giants that we'd fought were all in one place, and they were no doubt more than happy enough to hunt the three of us. Percy and Annabeth were as good as dead if we were caught, and who knows what would happen if Tartarus prevented me from helping Chaos? Everything would fall apart.

"Why are we stopping, then?" Annabeth asked. "We should keep moving."

"Soon," Bob said. "But mortals need rest. Good place here. Best place for…oh, long, long way. I will guard you."

Annabeth glanced at Percy with a cautious look, untrusting of hanging out with a Titan, let alone going to sleep while one guarded her.

"You two can sleep," Percy told her. "I'll keep the first watch with Bob."

Bob rumbled in agreement. "Yes, good. When you wake, food should be here!"

Annabeth look tempted at the idea of food. I knew Bob was right, even though I didn't know how. I knew that food would arrive, but it was one of those things that was just out of my reach, the memory familiar, but then again, I shouldn't have known anything about Tartarus besides the fact that it was a pit where monsters went when they died.

Annabeth was still hesitant to sleeping, but her body betrayed her. Her eyelids turned to lead at the opportunity for rest. "Percy, wake me for second watch. Don't be a hero."

He gave her that smirk she'd come to love. "Who, me?"

I sighed and sat down. Might as well try and get the incident with Ithuriel over with. I still needed to figure out what the heck Chaos's trials wanted from me. ' _What keeps you going?_ ' That's what Chaos had said was the key to winning these trials. It wasn't just what kept me going when I was being pushed and in pain, it was when I was offered everything I wanted. What made me resist both what I desire and what I abhor?

Percy kissed Annabeth, their lips parched and feverishly warm from the Phlegethon. "Sleep."

Annabeth passed out like she was in the Hypnos cabin back at Camp Half-Blood, overcome with drowsiness. She curled up on the hard ground and closed her eyes. I sat against one of the columns with Veon's lance in my hands just in case I needed to whack something when I woke. Sleeping when you didn't want to wasn't very hard for me. It just took some quiet meditation, blocking out everything else, and then slipping down into the layers of unconsciousness.

* * *

"Hi, Emily. Do you know how to tie this?"

I saw Ithuriel attempting to tie a…well, a tie, in front of a mirror. Emily was there, trying to help him. Was she always there? Maybe. Seemed okay to me. She finished up helping him, before he looked into the mirror and decided that he didn't like the tie and pulled it off. Emily, meanwhile, walked over to me urgently.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I wracked my brain, trying to get it to work again. What was I doing again? I was supposed to be here, right? Yeah, but what was I doing? Did I fall asleep? That must've been it. This was just a dream. Only way to find out was to try and breathe underwater. That's what always gave away when I was in a dream. That, or I just couldn't feel anything since my head was so foggy.

Emily pulled out a bundle of beads and put them in my hand. "Here, give the others to Annabeth and Percy."

Where were they, again? "Sure."

The world was shimmering, Emily was turning pale. There was blood coming from her nose. It was getting brighter.

White.

I remember there was once a white feather. An angel who dreamed of being human.

I was standing in white.

"Lu?"

Was I seeing black? Oh, my eyes were closed. I wanted them to stay closed. I wanted quiet. Relax. Darkness in light.

I felt something touch me. Attack.

I felt a jolt go through me and had my hand out to blast whatever it was, whether or not I had the strength to ward them off or not. I looked around frantically for the nearest living thing so I could lash out, but I heard a familiar voice.

"Hey! Hey, it's me!"

It took a long time to process that it was Veon, his hands up in surrender, right where my hand was facing to blast him with a bolt. I still had the urge to fire, even when I knew it was him, but I kept myself in check and tried to catch my breath. "V-Veon?"

"Yeah. I'm here."

"Where are we?" I asked, looking around frantically.

I looked to the side and then instantly regretted it as pain shot through my head through my eyes. I instantly knew it was the Primordials, and I knew it wasn't just Order, because I could still stare at her for a short amount of time without such a strong reaction. Or, I guess it would be 'him' now.

"Ugh, stupid true forms."

I blinked a couple of times and held my hand over my eyes before looking back up at Veon in realization.

"Wait, how are we here? Are they back together?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

I stood and held my hands to his temples. Like I suspected, his energy was being drained and his soul was being eaten away at.

"You're dying."

I moved my other hand to my own head and felt the same.

"It's killing us."

" _Order?_ "

The two of us winced as the single word surged through the area and seemed to tear through us, knocking us both down together.

" _You're here._ "

" _I'm here._ "

There were the pounding sounds of sobs from one or both of them, and I screamed, pulling into the fetal position. "Make it stop! Make it stop!"

I wanted to cry. I was tired of this pain, I was tired of dealing with this again and again. I just wanted to be a kid again, I wanted to take a deep breath and relax. Stop being strong, stop being stubborn, just…be free. But what would I do once I was free? If I didn't have something to fight against, I'd be lost. I didn't want to be afraid, but I didn't want to have nothing to be afraid of losing. And the cycle continues.

"MAKE IT STOP!"

I would've been happy for the two Primordials, but couldn't they just leave me alone already? It occurred to me that Veon was here, meaning he wouldn't be doing any better than me. Especially since he didn't have the tolerance and healing factor that I did. I tried to come up with a plan with my mind trying to block out the power ripping through me, but then I heard screaming that intensified the pain ten-fold.

" _No! Don't let go!_ "

" _No, no! NO! Don't leave me!_ "

" _Chaos!_ " " _Order!_ "

The world faded, or maybe we were just dying, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up on wood.

I looked up and saw a cabin ceiling.

I sat up quickly and saw whose cabin I was in. Emily was weak, but she'd live. I went over to her desk and pulled out some nectar to give to her, gently tipping it into her mouth.

Once I was done, I went out into the hallway to try and confirm that I wasn't just dreaming. I headed up the steps and to the deck to find the open world.

I was on the Argo II.


	18. Through the Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, guess what? Computer decided to break down and I lost everything that I had for the chapter! Yea! Now I have to borrow a computer to even upload this, I had a great other side story that I had planned out in detail, and now it's all gone! I am so angry right now. I am upset. My muse is upset. I have gone on a tangent to other stories instead of working on this because I was so frustrated. I'm still frustrated even as I am posting this.
> 
> As such, I made this chapter a little dark to express my feelings.
> 
> I'm not even going to edit this thing because I am just done at this point! Sorry for spelling errors or grammar errors or whatever!
> 
> In return for my anger-fueled writing as I attempt to recreate my humorous quips throughout the story, have an extra long chapter! If you don't like long chapters…well, I'm sorry, but at this point I don't care anymore! Go away if you don't like it! I AM OVER THIS! HAVE FUN! DARKNESS AND SADNESS! END OF THE WORLD! HERE YOU GO!
> 
> :l
> 
> :)

First Person: Zytaveon

Over the course of my life I have learned one thing.

Dreams suck.

I'd had my fair share of nightmares, but in all honesty, not a lot of them really scared me. I had one about a zombie apocalypse and one about being chased around by some evil dude to be captured, escape, and then be captured again, but I knew those were dreams at the time, and I found it quite cool, honestly. I could fight without feeling injuries and fatigue. Those were actually dreams, not nightmares, really.

But then there was this.

I was running through the forests of Camp Half-Blood, but this time, I felt fatigue, I felt cuts stinging across my body, I felt my grip on my sword weak from swinging it so much. Behind me was an army of hellhounds.

Up ahead, a little girl was being pulled along up Half-Blood Hill by Luke Castellan with the satyr Grover Underwood prancing nervously at the summit yelling, "Hurry! Hurry!"

 _Annabeth Chase. Protect her_.

I could not let Annabeth die. She was important.

Annabeth stumbled, twisting her ankle, and Luke scooped her up to carry her.

Thalia Grace was beside me, holding off the hellhounds with her terror-invoking Aegis shield. Dozens of the hounds were surrounding us, and I swung my sword to strike down another before moving back to back with Thalia. Was my sword always supposed to be white? It was longer, sleek and…kinda familiar.

"Go!" Thalia yelled. "We'll hold them off!"

Thalia and I raised our weapons, spear and sword together in the air beside each other, and forked lightning slashed through the monsters' ranks; but as the hellhounds fell, more took their place.

"We have to run!" Grover cried.

He led the way into camp. Luke followed with the protesting Annabeth, saying that we couldn't be left behind. Thalia and I sliced and threw lightning at the monsters, but they continued to come. I instinctively pulled out a handgun and started firing to keep them at bay. I had a moment's thought about how I didn't use a handgun and had never shot one in my life, but my body seemed to know what it was doing.

My body burned with fatigue, my lungs stinging from how long and hard I'd been breathing, but I was somehow able to go on. I couldn't believe I was still standing, but Thalia's energy had run out, and she looked on the verge of collapsing. I put my hand on her shoulder. It was then that I noticed that my hand was smaller than normal, wearing a ring that was familiar to me only because my best friend never took it off.

"You have a choice to make, Thalia Grace."

I spoke without realizing it, and the voice wasn't mine to begin with. It wasn't me standing with Thalia at Camp Half-Blood, protecting Annabeth and the others and offering Thalia the choice that would define her life for the next few years. I was living in the memories of someone else.

Thalia's face looked grim, but she raised her eyes to mine a moment later, her resolve firm. "Do it, Zyanya."

Lightning flashed. Before me now stood Thalia's pine tree, a storm raging overhead. Thunder shook the valley. A blast of lightning split the tree down to its roots, opening a smoking crevice. At the other side, Lucy was staring at me, her face blank as when she was a goddess.

" _Do you really think you can save her?_ "

"Of course I can," I instantly said.

She tilted her head to the side curiously, but her face remained stoic. " _Then the real question is: Will she forgive you for saving her?_ "

' _She will never forgive you_ …'

Her face suddenly jumped to life, as though she had fought to the surface to take control. "I will never forgive you!"

She began to spasm, clutching her head as she writhed in pain. She almost seemed to glitch out like something from a horror film, and I heard the terrifying sound of her neck snapping as it was thrown back. She began to seep dark mist, her skin darkening and then melting to black ooze in patches as though she was part Kako. Her laughter rang out across the fields, an evil cackle that shook me to the bones, before lightning struck where she stood, leaving no trace.

' _We shall stand together once more._ '

The hill shook, the ground rippling as the grass became folds of silk - the dress of a massive goddess. Gaea rose over Camp Half-Blood, her sleeping face as large as a mountain. There was a flash of black lighting from the sky as darkness seemed to pour from everything, the ground, air, and everything in between. Dark mist poured out from everywhere, sending a heavy feeling of dread through me as it passed over my skin. It all gathered together in one place, revealing a 50-foot Lu, her dark clothes shimmering with a black and red aura, her eyes like an empty void, and I heard screams crying out from the air around her, the screams of souls.

" _Perhaps this one will do just fine!_ " She shouted, but the voice that came out was masculine.

This was the rise of Gaea and Tartarus, I realized. I was reminded of that prophecy from what felt like forever ago.  _Child of Hades, beware the pit. Should you fall, you will be one with it_. Tartarus had wanted me for his host, but now it seemed he wanted Lu even more.  _Live in darkness, feel their pain. Know all you do will be in vain._ _The dead shall scream, the living shall fall, until you hear the final call_. Tartarus was filled with screaming souls of the dead, he would destroy the living and add them to his collection, and his host wouldn't be able to fight back.

If he rose, we were all doomed.

I didn't have any idea what the 'final call' was, but it didn't sound any more amusing than the apocalypse.

I wish I could say that I knew this wasn't real, but I felt surrounded, no way out. I was aware of everything I was feeling, I couldn't simply close my eyes and pretend this was just a movie in front of me. I couldn't brush this off as a future that I needed to stop. I didn't know how to stop this, I didn't know what I would do.

I wanted to curl up and cry, I wanted to run away - hell, I wanted to kill myself if it meant escaping. But I couldn't do that. I couldn't run from this, I couldn't escape, and if I had to go down, I would go down fighting.

' _I must stand here._ '

Reyna flickered into existence in front of me, her dark eyes turned as gray as storm clouds.

Athena's voice rang out, ' _The Roman must bring me._ '

Hellhounds poured over the hills. Giants, six-armed Earthborn, and wild Cyclopes charged from the beach, tearing down the dining pavilion, setting fire to the cabins and the Big House. Tartarus, still looking like a giant Lucy, stepped forward and crushed Hestia's hearth under his - uh,  _her?_  - wedged heel, dark laughter rippling through the air and shaking every morsel of confidence I had left out of me and darkening any light left in the camp.

It was then that I noticed Annabeth, now standing as the teenager I knew and loved, had dived out of the way of the destruction of the hearth. I had no idea what she was doing here or if she was even real, but considering there was no one else present except the monsters, I sprinted over to her in the hopes that I could find an ally in this nightmare.

' _Hurry,_ ' Said the voice of Athena. ' _The message must be sent._ '

The ground split at Annabeth's feet and she fell into darkness, reminding me of the pit in Rome where she'd fallen to Tartarus. The earth cracked and the abyss began to expand. Before I knew it, I was falling into the emptiness as well.

* * *

Ever had one of those dreams of falling? Or even just gotten vertigo from making your character in a videogame jump from a really high height? You felt your stomach twist in anticipation of the sudden stop that would be your demise, you felt as though there was nothing solid to hold onto and felt panic surging through your veins.

And then you felt the stop.

I shot awake, feeling the solid ground beneath me and realizing that it had never left me. I felt my lungs burning like breathing acid, I felt an open area instead of my cabin, I didn't feel the slight rocking of the ship. My surroundings were completely unfamiliar - a hellish landscape that only made my feeling of being in a nightmare worse.

I couldn't tell if I was awake or not - at least until I heard a shout and saw Percy falling back in surprise. " _Veon?!_ " He exclaimed.

"H-Hi," I managed.

"What just…how did you…? WHAT?!"

Poor guy. I suppose this couldn't be a dream. Only the real Percy could be so…human. His clothes were tattered and he was covered in soot from his survival adventure - Riptide glowing in his hands and casting shadows that only made his appearance worse. He looked like a vampire, tired, hungry, beaten, and struggling to go on. At the same time, he looked stronger, tough, a badass that has survived more than enough and was shouting to the world 'Bring it on, already!'

I groaned and laid back down again. All I wanted to do was get some rest after a tragic day of being a corn plant. Was that too much to ask?!

"Hey, Perce. Don't ask, I don't know. You're looking well."

"Uh…thanks."

I heard a sudden shout and jumped to find Annabeth had been sleeping and shot awake, her eyes flying open as she grasped Percy's arms. She took in her surroundings, realizing she was awake again and slowly beginning to relax.

"It's okay," Percy promised. "Bad dreams?"

Her body tingled with dread. "Is it…is it my turn to watch?"

"No, no. We're good. I let you sleep."

"Percy!" She scolded.

"Hey, it's fine! Besides, I was a bit distracted."

"Hey, Anna," I called.

She shrieked and gripped Percy again, as though commanding him to attack. She reached for her dagger, but found that it wasn't there. She must've lost it in the fall to Tartarus, but considering they had survived the fall at all, I suppose we had no right to complain.

"Veon?! H-How did you-?"

"I don't know. Funky Primordial stuff, I guess. Ooo, food!"

I went over to the altar - this was the shrine of Hermes, I believe (how did I know that? Who cares?) - and grabbed a bag of chips. I realized that Bob the Titan was sitting cross-legged, happily munching a piece of pizza, but I was too mentally exhausted to be surprised anymore.

"Hey, Bob."

"Zyta!"

I sighed, but let it pass. Zytaveon was a cool name - I'd read a book with a guy named Zytaveon (granted he was the sort-of enemy that was killed when an even worse guy turned on him because he was a threat) - but Bob chose to use the first half of my name as his chosen nickname. I'd seen the Titan while I was working at my dad's palace, and you couldn't help but feel bad for what happened to him. Sure, he had once been a ruthless Titan and had fought Percy and Co., but now that he'd been reduced to such a clueless sweetheart, I didn't really want to upset him, so I let him call me what he wanted.

Annabeth rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was still dreaming (and who could blame her?) "Is that…pepperoni?"

"Burnt offerings," I said. "Sacrifices to Hermes from the mortal world."

"They appeared in a cloud of smoke," Percy explained. "We've got half a hot dog, some grapes, a plate of roast beef, and a package of peanut M&M's."

"M&M's for Bob!" Bob said happily. "Uh, that okay?"

"It's all yours, big guy," I said, and he happily downed them.

Percy brought Annabeth the plate of roast beef and she wolfed it down. I asked for a bite and realized how much I missed the camp. The brisket was still hot, with exactly the same spicy sweet glaze as the barbecue at Camp Half-Blood.

"I think it  _is_  from Camp Half-Blood," Percy admitted.

"Yeah," I said. "Offerings go to shrines like this. My dad showed me his shrine and how sacrifices - from Nico in particular, since he's the only one really making sacrifices to Hades - appeared. I've been to Olympus and saw the other shrines there too, and the real question remains of if they just leave the food there to rot. I mean, they eat nectar and ambrosia on the reg, after all."

The thought made me slightly homesick for Camp Half-Blood. I had spent a lot of time in the Underworld, but the camp was still a friendly and warm place to be in, one big, happy family. At every meal, the campers would burn a portion of their food to honor their godly parents. The smoke supposedly pleased the gods, but it never really occurred to me where the burnt offerings went until my dad showed me. Out of all places, the middle of Tartarus. I guess someone got mad at Hermes and chucked his shrine into the pit - or maybe Hermes wanted to deliver food for just this occasion.

"Peanut M&M's," Annabeth mused. "Connor Stoll always burned a pack for his dad at dinner."

I thought about sitting in the dining pavilion, watching the sunset over Long Island Sound. You don't realize how much you love something until it's gone.

Percy put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, this is  _good_. Actually food from home, right?"

She nodded. We finished eating in silence.

Bob chomped down the last of his M&M's. "Should go now. They will be here in a few minutes."

"A few  _minutes?_ " Annabeth exclaimed, reaching for her missing dagger again before remembering its absence.

"Yes…well, I  _think_  minutes…" Bob scratched his silvery hair. "Time is hard in Tartarus. Not the same."

Percy crept to the edge of the crater. I stood and joined him, looking into the empty landscape. "I don't see anything, but that doesn't mean much," I announced.

"Bob, which giants are we talking about?" Percy asked. "Which Titans?"

Bob grunted. "Not sure of names. Six, maybe seven. I can sense them."

" _Six or seven?_ " Annabeth exclaimed. I wasn't sure her barbecue would stay down. "And can they sense  _you?_ "

"Don't know." Bob smiled. "Bob is different! But they can smell demigods, yes. You two smell very strong. Good strong. Like…hmm. Like buttery bread!"

"Buttery bread," Annabeth repeated. "Well, that's great."

"Wait, just  _two_  of us?" Percy asked.

Bob's face twisted in thought. "Zyta smells like…metal death. Primordial."

Bob smiled, proud that he had found the proper word to describe it.

"I'll take that as a compliment," I said.

We climbed back to the altar. "Is it possible to kill a giant in Tartarus?" Percy wondered. "I mean, since we don't have a god to help us?"

He looked at Annabeth as if she actually had an answer.

"Percy, I don't know," She said helplessly. "Traveling in Tartarus, fighting monsters here…it's never been done before. Maybe Bob could help us kill a giant? Maybe a Titan would count as a god? I just don't know."

The two of their heads fell. For years, Percy had depended on Annabeth for answers - there was a reason his nickname was 'Seaweed Brain,' after all. Now, when he needed her most, she couldn't help. She hated being clueless, but nothing she could ever learn at camp could have prepared her for Tartarus.

"We need to accept that we don't have all the answers," I said. "Let's focus on what we  _do_  know, and what we  _do_  know, is that we need to get moving. We can't afford to be caught by six or seven hostile immortals."

Annabeth stood, still disoriented from her nightmares. Bob started cleaning up, collecting our trash in a little pile, using a squirt bottle to wipe off the altar. I gave in to my instincts and helped him.

"Where to now?" Annabeth asked.

Percy pointed at the stormy wall of darkness - because of course it was the story wall of darkness. "Bob says that way. Apparently, the Doors of Death-"

"You  _told_  him?" Annabeth blurted, and though she didn't mean to come out harsh, Percy winced.

"While you were asleep," He admitted. "Annabeth, Bob can help. We need a guide."

"Bob helps!" Bob agreed. "Into the Dark Lands. The Doors of Death…hmm, walking straight to them would be bad. Too many monsters gathered there. Even Bob could not sweep that many. They would kill Percy and Annabeth in about two seconds." The Titan frowned. "I  _think_  seconds. Time is hard in Tartarus."

"Right," Annabeth grumbled. "So is there another way?"

"Hiding," Bob said. "The Death Mist could hide you."

"Oh…" Annabeth looked like she suddenly felt very small in the shadow of the Titan. "Uh, what is Death Mist?"

"What it sounds like," I said. "It's Mist, but Tartarus style."

"You know about it?"

"I can take my guesses."

"It is dangerous," Bob said. "But if the lady will give you Death Mist, it might hide you. If we can avoid Night. The lady is  _very_  close to Night. That is bad."

"The lady," Percy repeated.

"Ankles-something," I recited. "I know about this…somehow…"

"Yes." Bob pointed ahead of us into the inky blackness. "We should go."

Percy glanced at Annabeth and I, obviously hoping for guidance, but there wasn't anymore we could give. I was still reeling from the nightmare - Thalia's pine tree splintered by lightning, Gaea and Tartarus rising and unleashing monsters on Camp Half-Blood, and…' _Will she forgive you for saving her?_ '

"Okay, then," Percy said. "I guess we'll see a lady about some Death Mist."

"Wait," Annabeth interrupted.

She looked back to the black altar. I remembered stories about Hermes - god of travelers, guide to the spirits of the dead, god of communication. It was no wonder that Kaze was so strong. To have a Hermes shrine surviving and active in Tartarus was amazing, and I couldn't help but feel that there was something we could do to utilize this thing. We could get food from Camp Half-Blood, we were as connected to them as we were going to be.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked, sounding concerned.

She walked to the pile of trash and picked out a reasonably clean paper napkin. I walked over and grabbed my own. Maybe we could make this work.

"Bob," Annabeth said. "Offerings burned in the mortal world appear on this altar, right?"

Bob frowned uncomfortably, like he wasn't ready for a pop quiz. "Yes?"

"So what happens if I burn something on the altar here?"

"Uh…"

"That's all right. You don't know. Nobody knows, because it's never been done."

There was a chance, just the slimmest chance, that an offering burned on this altar might appear at Camp Half-Blood. Doubtful, but if it  _did_  work…

"Annabeth?" Percy asked again. "You're planning something. You've got that ' _I'm-planning-something_ ' look."

"I don't have an ' _I'm-planning-something_ ' look."

"Yeah, you totally do. Your eyebrows knit and your lips press together and-"

"Do you have a pen?" I interrupted.

"You're kidding, right?"

He brought out Riptide.

"Lob it over."

He reluctantly gave me his pen and I pulled the cap off. As usual, it sprang into a full-sized sword. I never really paid much attention before, but Percy simply discarded the cap when he fought. It always appeared in his pocket later as needed - he didn't have to chuck his sword into an abyss every time he wanted to put it back in pen-form. When he touched the cap to the point of the sword, it would turn back into a ballpoint pen. I usually put the cap of my pens on the other end - it was the most logical place to put it. If putting the cap on the point of the sword turned it into a capped pen, then…

I touched the cap to the hilt of the sword, and Riptide shrank back into a ballpoint pen, but now the writing point was exposed. "Sweet."

I started writing down a message. Riptide's ink glowed Celestial bronze, and I wondered if that whole law about matter not being created or destroyed and whatnot would come into play. Would writing too much cause Riptide to shrink? Then again, this wasn't a normal weapon. Maybe it played by supernatural rules. I made sure to keep my message straight and simple just in case.

"May I?" Annabeth asked.

I passed her the pen and she began to write.

"What are you doing?" Percy asked.

"Sending a message," Annabeth said. "I just hope Rachel gets it."

"Rachel?" Percy asked. "You mean  _our_  Rachel? Oracle of Delphi Rachel?"

"That's the one," Annabeth said, looking like she was suppressing a smile.

Whenever she brought up Rachel's name, Percy got nervous. At one point, Rachel had apparently been interested in dating Percy. That was ancient history, Rachel and Annabeth were good friends now, but Annabeth didn't mind making Percy a little uneasy. Because keeping your boyfriend on his toes was what every good girlfriend/boyfriend should do…?

Annabeth finished her note and folded the napkin. On the outside, she wrote:

_Connor,_

_Give this to Rachel. Not a prank. Don't be a moron._

_Love,_

_Annabeth_

She took a deep breath. This was a big 'What if,' but we needed to think of a way to avoid bloodshed.

"Now we just need to burn them. Anybody got a match?"

The point of Bob's spear shot from his broom handle. It sparked against the altar and erupted in silvery fire.

"Nice," I commented.

Annabeth and I lit our napkins and set them on the altar. I watched as they crumbled to ash and realized these were, quite literally, fire messages from the Shadowhunters series.

"We should go now," Bob advised. "Really, really go. Before we are killed."

"We've got to move it, move it, people," I agreed, moving to the edge of the crater.

Annabeth stared at the wall of blackness in front of us. Somewhere in there was a lady who dispensed a Death Mist that  _might_  hide them from monsters - a plan recommended by a Titan. I just somehow switched places with Lucy into Tartarus, both of us carrying one of the most ancient and powerful Primordial beings in existence while we try to evade their son Tartarus…while inside of Tartarus.

Another dose of weirdness to explode my brain.

"Right," Annabeth said. "I'm ready."

* * *

I knew were inevitably going to encounter Titans, but I didn't expect to literally stumble over one.

After entering the storm front, I instantly felt a surge of power sweep through me. It wasn't cold or warm, but it was overwhelmingly painful. I felt like something was seeping through every inch of my skin, forcing its way in and I couldn't breathe. I heard screams surging through my head, felt a sea of souls within me at once, overwhelming my senses and frying my brain. Ever been to a rec center pool and gotten sucked under the waterfall in the lazy river? Imagine that, an overwhelming force pounding down on you, disorienting you, suffocating you, but imagine it from all sides with no hope of escaping and your insides getting churned through a blender meanwhile.

In all honesty, that could just be described as the story of my life.

I'm not sure how long the pain lasted, but when the piercing cries died down and the suffocating pain numbed, I found that the darkness that I saw was just my own closed eyes. I slowly opened the to find that I was staring at the red sky of Tartarus. I was lying on the ground. Considering the last thing I remembered was being vertical, that was a bit disorienting.

I sat up, my limbs feeling sore and fatigued like I'd just run a pacer test, but I seemed to be intact, at least. I raised my hand to my face to rub my eyes, but even that act of defying gravity wore my arm out and it was screaming in protest.

"Ugh, don't wanna do that again."

I looked around and saw that the storm of darkness seemed to have disappeared. I turned and saw Bob, Percy, and Annabeth a small distance away - Bob standing with a solemn yet calm face while Percy had his arm out just slightly to keep Annabeth behind him, Riptide drawn and his battle stance ready.

"What happened? Did I miss something?"

"Veon…?" Annabeth asked cautiously.

"Yeah? Is there something on my face?"

My strength was returning to me so that I didn't feel like passing out on the spot, but I had a feeling that if I stood I'd be back to square one.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked again.

"Sorta. I feel like I just ran three marathons on a row all at once, but I'm getting better."

Percy gave a cautious look, but he seemed to be unsure of what to do. "Bob?" He asked.

"We should go," He said simply, turning and beginning to walk off.

I struggled to maneuver to my feet and adjust to the strain as I stood. It was a slow process filled with a lot of stumbling and a lot of pain, like pins and needles when your foot fell asleep, but I managed to rise and then move to follow Bob.

"Come on," I said. "We should really keep moving."

Percy and Annabeth shared a reluctant glance before following after. I realized that the air was filled with dark particles and shaded black, like the Starscourge in Final Fantasy XV. I could still see around me, but the world was tinted black and dark dust seemed to be flowing through the air like an inversely colored blizzard. Percy's Celestial bronze blade glowed in the darkness - along with Bob, who glowed faintly in the dark like some sort of crazy janitor angel - but it didn't really seem necessary to have the light sources. Then again, having weapons at the ready seemed to be a good idea in this place.

"Veon?" Annabeth called.

"Yeah?"

"What happened back there?"

I shrugged. "Don't ask me. All I know was that I was in pain, there was a lot of screaming, and…after that, I'm not sure. Then I woke up."

"I'm worried," She admitted.

"Me too, but we need to keep moving. We don't have a lot of time to waste on worry here."

She nodded slowly and we marched on. Percy was giving skeptical looks in my direction, and I'm not sure what it meant. We stayed close to Bob, making our way through the inky surroundings. Annabeth and Percy seemed to be having trouble seeing, as they nearly ran into rocks and pits at their feet. I had to help catch Annabeth before she walked straight into one of the large crevasses, while they only seemed to notice a looming rock when they were five feet away. Monstrous roars echoed in the gloom, but I couldn't tell where they were coming from. I thought I could see movement in the distance, but if it was monsters, they didn't seem to notice us. For now.

All I knew about where we were going was the terrain was sloping down. Down seemed to be the only direction allowed in Tartarus. If I tried to backtrack even a step, I felt tied and heavy again, as if gravity were increasing to discourage me. I was already worn out enough and just regaining my strength back, so I didn't really need much encouragement to keep straight. Assuming that the entire pit  _was_  the body of Tartarus, I had a nasty feeling we were marching straight down his throat.

With that depressing thought it mind, I nearly missed that Annabeth was walking off another ledge until it was too late.

"Whoa!" Percy exclaimed.

He grabbed for her arm, but she was already falling. I dived for her arm and then thrust her back in the other direction, getting her close enough to Percy for him to catch her arm and stabilize her, but in turn I was sent falling instead. Fortunately, it was only a shallow depression, but it gave me another moment of annoyance that I didn't have my lance. Most of it was filled with a monster blister. I had a soft landing on a warm bouncy surface, feeling relieved until I opened my eyes and found myself staring through a glowing gold membrane at another, much larger face.

My body jumped into overdrive and I scrambled back in horror. I toppled sideways off the mound, losing my bearings and feeling as I hit the actual ground beside the…thing.

"You okay?" Percy called, coming down to help me to my feet.

I swallowed, still trying to keep my heart from fighting its way to freedom. I was afraid to speak because all that might come out was a scream. Instead, I simply nodded. I had seen scary and grotesque things before, but I was having a bad day, all right? Curled in the membrane bubble in front of us was a fully formed Titan in golden armor, his skin the color of polished pennies. His eyes were closed, but he scowled so deeply he appeared to be on the verge of a bloodcurdling war cry. I was so glad that I wasn't  _on_  the thing anymore, since I was sure that any disturbance would pop the thing and he'd awaken. Even through the blister, I could feel the heat radiating from his body.

"Hyperion," Percy said. "I hate that guy."

Annabeth's hand instinctively moved to her shoulder, like she was feeling a phantom pain. I had heard the stories of the Battle of Manhattan, where Percy had fought this Titan at the Reservoir - water against fire. It had been the first time Percy had summoned a hurricane, a memorable experience to be sure.

"I thought Grover turned this guy into a maple tree," Annabeth said.

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "Maybe the maple tree died and he wound up back here?"

"That could've happened in any number of ways," I said. "One way or another, he's here, though it looks like he's not done cooking yet."

I thought about Hyperion summoning fiery explosions and how many satyrs and nymphs he'd destroyed before Grover had stopped him. I considered bursting his bubble before he woke up, but though he didn't seem done, he was still too close for comfort. He looked ready to pop on his own any moment and start charbroiling everything in his path. Destroying him could either stop him and start his regeneration over, or it could wake him up early, not at full power but dangerous all the same.

I glanced at Bob. The silvery Titan was studying Hyperion with a frown of concentration - maybe recognition. Now that I thought about it, their faces looked so much alike. Then I realized the bad luck we have. Of course they looked alike - Hyperion was his  _brother_. Hyperion was the Titan lord of the east, Iapetus, Bob, was the lord of the west. Take away Bob's broom and his janitor's clothes, put him in armor and cut his hair, change his color scheme from silver to gold, and Iapetus would have been almost indistinguishable from Hyperion.

"Bob," Annabeth said. "We should go."

"Gold, not silver," Bob murmured. "But he looks like me."

"Bob," Percy said. "Hey, buddy, over here."

The Titan reluctantly turned away from his brother and to Percy.

"Am I your friend?" Percy asked.

"Yes." Bob sounded dangerously uncertain. "We are friends."

"We're all your friends, right?" I asked again.

He nodded. "Zyta is friend. Bob has many friends."

"You know that some monsters are good," Percy said. "And some are bad."

"Hmm," Bob said. "Like…pretty ghost ladies who serve Persephone are good. Exploding zombies are bad."

"Right. And some mortals are good, and some are bad. Well, the same thing is true for Titans."

"Titans…"

Bob loomed over us, glowering. I hoped that Percy hadn't just made a big mistake, but we needed to talk to Bob at some point. Bob wasn't bad, not anymore, and now that he was without his memories, he wanted to be good. Annabeth still gave a worried look at Percy, pretty sure that her boyfriend was going to get us all killed.

"That's what you are," I continued calmly. "Bob the Titan. You're good. You're awesome, buddy."

"But some Titans are not," Percy continued. "This guy here, Hyperion, is full-on bad. He tried to kill me…tried to kill a lot of people."

Bob blinked his silver eyes. "But he looks…his face is so-"

"He looks like you," Percy agreed. "He's a Titan, like you. But he's not good like you are."

"Bob is good." His fingers tightened on his broom handle. "Yes. There is always at least one good one - monsters, Titans, giants."

"Uh…" Percy grimaced. "Well, I'm not sure about the giants-"

"That's right," I interrupted. "There is  _always_  at least one good one. You are the special good Titan."

"Yes," Bob nodded earnestly.

I looked around in the darkened plains, getting a bad feeling. Something was tugging at the corners of my senses, like something just our of your peripheral vision that disappeared the moment you turned. We had been here too long. Our pursuers were closing in.

"We should go," I urged.

"What should we do about…?" Annabeth asked carefully.

"Bob," Percy said. "It's your call. Hyperion is your kind. We could leave him alone, but if he wakes up-"

Bob's broom-spear swept into motion. If he'd been aiming at any of us, we would've been cut in half. Instead, Bob slashed through the monstrous blister, which burst in a geyser of hot golden mud. I wiped the Titan sludge out of my eyes and tried to get it off my clothes. Where Hyperion had been, there was nothing but a smoking crater.

"Hyperion is a bad Titan," Bob announced, his expression grim. "Now he can't hurt my friends. He will have to re-form somewhere else in Tartarus. Hopefully it will take a long time."

The Titan's eyes seemed brighter than usual, as if he were about to cry quicksilver.

"Thank you, Bob," Percy said.

I simply nodded with a reassuring look. There wasn't really a good way to say 'Thanks for choosing us over your brother even though we're kinda manipulating you in your memory loss.' Annabeth looked a little unease at how Percy was keeping his cool. If Percy had been serious about leaving the choice to Bob, he was showing a lot more trust in the Titan than she was comfortable with. If he'd been manipulating Bob into making that choice, then I was once again surprised in the wisdom of Percy that laid beneath the Seaweed Brain surface.

As Percy met Annabeth's eyes, I couldn't read his expression very well. Percy trusted Bob was a nice guy now that he was memory wiped, and only keeping calm would allow us to be his friends and utilize that fact. But Percy was a nice guy. He had to be feeling the same guilt I was for playing with the Titan while he was down.

"We'd better keep going," I said.

We followed Bob, the golden mud flecks from Hyperion's burst bubble glowing on his janitor's uniform. We went on walking for a long while, and my condition seemed to be getting a little better. I was either going numb, or I was being rejuvenated, because I couldn't feel fatigue in my legs as I walked anymore, and the acid air was becoming tolerable. I felt comfortable, like I was walking from school to my house - as though this was a casual trip and I could walk forward without even thinking about where I was going. Did I know where I was going? I felt like I did, but I couldn't actually say where specifically. Just a little further, I supposed.

Now my only problems were the thoughts and confusion swirling around in my head. If I was here, that meant that Lu somehow had to be back on the Argo II in my place, right? But did that mean we had switched Primordials too? Chuck didn't seem to be in the mood to talk, or maybe he couldn't since we were in Tartarus - the one who had trapped his wife. Did that mean that  _Order_  was now the one trapped and  _Chaos_  was the one up in the mortal world? Or did I now have Chaos inside me? Or did I even have a Primordial at all? Was that breakdown earlier a result of me losing the Primordial that I had, an attack from Tartarus?

I tried to stay focused on our surroundings, since Annabeth and Percy were worn out from the walking alone, not to mention the monsters that could possibly sneak up on us. I wondered. If I wasn't even feeling the pain of walking, was Tartarus already in me? Was that thing before him entering me and now I was getting more resilient because of him? I mean, it was helpful, but if this feeling only grew more powerful, it meant that his presence was getting stronger within me. At that rate, he'd gain enough power to take control. Was that what was happening?

 _Child of Hades, beware the pit. Should y_ _ou fall, you will be one with it_.

Great.

I marched along, following Bob, listening to the monotonous slosh of liquid in his cleaning bottle. From time to time, Percy took Annabeth's hand or made an encouraging comment, but I could tell that the dark landscape was getting to even him. His eyes had a dull sheen - like his spirit was being slowly extinguished. Being in Tartarus, the most monstrous part of the Underworld (pun intended), that may not have been far from the truth. Percy fell into Tartarus to be with Annabeth, to help her survive, and is probably the only reason she's alive right now - with Bob there by extension. Percy was seriously tough, but he couldn't be an eternal optimist forever.

He could've just let her fall on his own, and now, if he dies, Annabeth was going to be at fault. Percy was an idiot for going into Tartarus just for Annabeth.

Wait, no he wasn't. He was brave for doing that, he was the only reason she was still alive. Ugh, Tartarus either already has a hold, or I'm just plain going crazy with dark thoughts on the brain.

"Stop it," Annabeth said randomly.

Percy frowned. "What?"

"No, not you." She tried for a reassuring smile, but she didn't seem to have the energy to muster one. "Talking to myself. This place…it's messing with my mind. Giving me dark thoughts."

The worry lines deepened around Percy's sea-green eyes. "Hey, Bob, where exactly are we heading?"

"The lady," Bob said. "Death Mist."

Annabeth looked like she was fighting to keep down her irritation. "But what does that mean? Who is this lady?"

"Naming her?" Bob glanced back. "Not a good idea."

"Right," I said. "Names have power, and speaking them here in Tartarus is probably very dangerous. Actually, that's a pretty hypocritical sentence considering I just said 'Tartarus.' Shoot, did it again."

I felt a small swell of pride as the two of them tried to fight against smiles.

"Can you at least tell us how far?" Annabeth asked.

"I do not know," Bob admitted. "I can only feel it. We wait for the darkness to get darker. Then we go sideways."

"Sideways," Annabeth muttered. "Naturally."

I had to admit that I agreed with Bob. I just knew, instinctively, that we just had to wait for some kind of signal before we changed course. I'm not sure what the signal was, but maybe it was just for the darkness to get darker - for my senses to spike. I couldn't tell if Tartarus was trying to be helpful or leading us into a trap, but Bob seemed to agree with me. I was tempted to ask Annabeth and Percy if they wanted to rest, but stopping in his cold, dark place may not be a good idea. The black fog around us that I seemed to be immune to still affected them, seeping into their bodies, turning their bones into moist Styrofoam.

I wondered if Annabeth's plan would work, and if Lu's Curses would pick it up. I had seen her glowing with that green magic of the Curses before she'd fallen into Tartarus, but now that she was up there, they had to have gotten to Camp Half-Blood one way or another. If they could communicate with the real Lu even from the camp to the Argo II, even better. Then again, there were more than enough risks. Rachel, Reyna, and everyone else that's on our side would be put at risk one way or another.

Stupid dark thoughts. I was tempted to start shouting back at my thoughts like Annabeth, but just because I was going crazy didn't mean I wanted to  _look_  like I was going crazy. What I wouldn't do for another bag of chips (bless the camper that burned half a bag of Ruffles to Hermes - Cheddar and Sour Cream flavored! Those things were addictive!).

I suddenly felt a small spike in my senses and put my hand on my sword, looking around.

Bob put his hand up to signal for Annabeth and Percy to wait.

"What?" Percy whispered.

"Shh," Bob warned.

"Ahead," I whispered. "Something moves."

From somewhere in the fog came a deep thrumming noise, like the idling engine of a large construction vehicle - or the low growling of a monster. I could feel the vibrations in my shoes.

"We will surround it," Bob whispered. "Each of you, take a flank. Zyta circle behind."

Annabeth sighed, wishing, for the millionth time, that she had her dagger. I reached to the back of my jeans and pulled a small obsidian throwing knife from the belt loop. It was small, but it was something. I only had one for emergencies, and sometimes I forgot to even equip it in the morning when I changed into my clothes, but luckily I had it today. I passed it to Annabeth and she nodded in thanks, the two of us creeping to the left while Percy went left, his sword ready.

Annabeth went at a slower pace than me, and I split off to take a wide arc to get behind what I was sensing. Bob took the middle, his spearhead glowing in the fog. The humming got louder as I came back around, shaking the gravel at my feet. I was careful to stay out of sight before turning back around. My vision was clearer than the other's, but that just made me even more cautious.

I heard Bob, Annabeth, and Percy, though they were far away, so I had to assume a lot of what they were saying. I was just waiting for the cue to attack - a series of words that had to be a countdown, or even just a simple battle cry.

"Ready?" Bob murmured.

Annabeth was crouched, preparing to spring. "On three?"

"One," Percy whispered. "Two-"

I approached the creature and prepared to spring forward to attack, but then I finally saw what it was.

"Wait!" I shrieked.

Bob had his spear raised, freezing just in time, the point of his spear hovering an inch above the head of a tiny calico kitten.

"Rrow?" Said the kitten, clearly unimpressed with the attack plan.

It butted its head against Bob's foot and purred loudly. It seemed impossible, but the deep rumbling sound was coming from the kitten. The kitten fixed its yellow, lamp-like eyes on one particular rock, right between Annabeth's feet, and pounced. The cat could've been a demon or a horrible Underworld monster in disguise, but Annabeth couldn't help it. She picked it up and cuddled it. The little thing was bony under its fur, but otherwise it seemed perfectly normal.

"How did…?" She couldn't even form the question. "What is a kitten doing…?"

"Aw, you're a little dead kitten, aren't you?" I asked. There was no doubt that what I was sensing was an undead cat. "You're a little saber-tooth tiger."

The cat squirmed out of Annabeth's arms and landed with a thump. I kneeled down at petted the kitten. Yup. Dead kitten.

It gave a small mew before padding over to Bob, rubbing against his boots and purring again.

Percy laughed. "Somebody likes you, Bob."

"It must be a good monster." Bob looked up nervously. "Isn't it?"

"You look like a good monster to me," I cooed. "Aren't ya, buddy? Yeah, you're like Bob, you're good."

Seeing the huge Titan and this tiny kitten together made me realize what this place did. There was no respect for anything here - good or bad, small or large, wise or unwise. Tartarus swallowed Titans and demigods and kittens indiscriminately. Insert Hamilton song reference here, but with 'Death' replaced with 'Tartarus.'

Bob knelt down and scooped up the cat. It fit perfectly in Bob's palm, but it decided to explore. It climbed the Titan's arm, made itself at home on his shoulder, and closed its eyes, purring like an earthmover. Suddenly its fur shimmered. In a flash, the kitten became a ghostly skeleton, as if it had stepped behind an X-ray machine. Then it was a regular kitten again.

Annabeth blinked. "Did you see…?"

"I told you he was a dead kitten," I said. "Isn't he adorable?"

Percy knit his eyebrows. "Oh, man…I  _know_  that kitten. It's one of the ones from the Smithsonian."

"You mean the Atlas thing?" I recalled.

Several years ago, Annabeth had been captured by the Titan Atlas. Percy and Thalia had led a quest to rescue her. Along the way, they'd watched Atlas raise some skeleton warriors from dragon teeth in the Smithsonian Museum. According to Percy, the Titan's first attempt went wrong - he'd planted saber-tooth tiger teeth by mistake, and raised a batch of skeleton kittens from the soil.

"That's  _one_  of them?" Annabeth asked. "How did it get here?"

Percy spread his hands helplessly. "Atlas told his servants to take the kittens away. Maybe they destroyed the cats and they were reborn in Tartarus? I don't know."

"If Atlas raised them, that would put them in the category of a Greco-Roman monster," I explained. "In essence, when they died, they would come to Tartarus and will forever be a part of the cycle, always coming here when they die."

"Poor thing," Annabeth sighed.

"It's cute," Bob said, as the kitten sniffed his ear.

"But is it safe?"

The Titan scratched the kitten's chin. Annabeth barely liked having Bob around, but now we were going to carry around a cat grown from a prehistoric tooth? But obviously none of our opinions mattered now - the Titan and the cat had bonded.

"I will call him Small Bob," Said Bob. "He is a good monster."

"Nice to meet you, Small Bob," I greeted, petting the kitten gently.

The Titan hefted his spear and we continued marching into the gloom. Small Bob the kitten paced across Bob's shoulders, purring and occasionally turning into a glowing kitty skeleton and then back to a calico fuzz-ball.

"Here," Bob announced.

He stopped so suddenly, Annabeth almost ran into him. I looked around the landscape, testing my senses again. It felt like there was an even thicker aura of darkness ahead of us. It was like when you stood in a door between a large space and a small space and just slightly cracked it open - a breeze pushing against you and seeming to warn that there was another room ahead.

"Is this the place?" Annabeth asked. "Where we go  _sideways?_ "

"Yes," Bob agreed. "Darker, then sideways."

I could still see with the same amount of clarity, but the air was definitely heavier, as though we'd stepped into a different microclimate. Sounded like San Francisco, where you could walk from one neighborhood to the next and the temperature might drop ten degrees. Or so I've been told. I wondered if the Titans had built their palace on Mount Tamalpais because the Bay Area reminded them of Tartarus. What a depressing thought. Only Titans would see such a beautiful place as a potential outpost of the abyss - a hellish home away from home.

Bob struck off to the left and we followed. The air definitely got colder, and I got a chill running through my body as a tingling started become stronger. Annabeth and Percy were pressed together for warmth, Percy putting his arm around her. Maybe I was just shivering from the cold, but either way, I knew that something was extremely wrong. We were getting closer to the heart of Tartarus, and the closer we got to Tartarus, the more control he would most likely have over me.

' _I can feel you creeping through me_ _…_ '

I jumped and looked around, panic surging through me.

We'd entered some sort of forest. Towering black trees soared into the gloom, perfectly round and bare of branches, like monstrous hair follicles. The ground was smooth and pale. With our luck, we were marching through the armpit of Tartarus.

I wish I could say that thought made me feel better, but my entire body was tense and on edge, waiting for an internal fight that hadn't come yet but I knew might happen at any moment. My senses were on high alert, as if someone had snapped a rubber band against the base of my neck.

' _The curses are coming~!_ '

I wasn't ashamed to say that I was terrified, gasping and putting my back to the nearest tree. My hands were shaking, and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to properly grip my sword should I draw it again. I knew that I might not be able to stand properly because I couldn't feel anything beneath my twisted stomach and my legs would give out any second, but who can blame someone who's feeling one of the scariest Primordials consuming your every being from all directions?

"What is it?" Percy asked, raising his sword.

' _They're close, little witch. What will you do?_ '

Bob turned and looked back, confused. "We are stopping?"

I took deep breaths, trying to focus. What was coming? It was close? How close? Where was it? Nothing looked different, but it was too quiet. Then I realized that it wasn't just me that was quivering - the tree trunk was shaking as well. I had a small optimistic hope that it was just Small Bob, but the kitten had fallen asleep on Large Bob's shoulder without even the slightest of snores.

I stumbled back from the tree and saw that a few yards away another tree shuddered.

"Something's moving above us," Annabeth whispered. "Gather up."

Bob and Percy closed ranks with the two of us, standing back to back. I looked around the darkness, but to my displeasure,  _everything_  was moving. Every shadow could be a monster or it could just be dark smoke, but my senses were going crazy about everything. The others seemed oblivious to the danger, probably blind because of the darkness that we'd walked into.

I snatched Annabeth's arm when the first monster dropped to the ground only five feet away. A part of me wished that it was the furies. At least I could deal with them. The creature looked almost exactly like one: a wrinkled hag with bat-like wings, brass talons, and glowing red eyes. She wore a tattered dress of black silk, and her face was twisted and ravenous, like a demonic grandmother in the mood to kill.

Bob grunted as another one dropped in front of him, and then another in front of Percy. Soon there were half a dozen surrounding us. More hissed in the trees above, all of them watching and waiting for the command to attack. They definitely weren't furies - there were only three of those and these winged hags didn't carry whips. Not that it made me feel any better. The monsters' talons looked plenty dangerous.

Annabeth suddenly shoved me away and backed behind Percy. "His eyes are black again!"

"Again?" I asked.

The monsters hissed again and I grabbed my sword, tuning my back to the others, hoping that my hands weren't shaking too obviously.

"Who are you?" Annabeth demanded.

" _The arai_ ," Hissed a voice. " _The curses!_ "

"The curses…" I repeated.

I tried to locate the speaker of the voice, but none of the demons had moved their mouths. Their eyes looked dead; their expressions were frozen, like a puppet's. The voice simply floated overhead like a movie narrator's, as if a single mind controlled all the creatures.

"What…what do you want?" Annabeth asked, trying to maintain a tone of confidence.

The voice cackled maliciously. " _To curse you, of course! To destroy you a thousand times in the name of Mother Night!_ "

"Only a thousand times?" Percy murmured. "Oh, good…I thought we were in trouble."

' _Can you save your friends, little witch? The arai shall destroy them in the cruelest ways possible, and you shall be mine, one way or another._ '

The circle of demon ladies closed in.

* * *

First Person: Lucy

I was sick.

I felt the slight rocking of the ship and was instantly reduced to a dizzy, disoriented, gaging mess. If I had any food in my stomach, I might've been hurling into the Adriatic already. I had always tried that whole staring at the horizon trick, but it rarely ever worked. There were white cliffs that seemed just a mile or so to the east (was that Croatia? Ugh, who cares? I want land).

It had been a long time since I'd been seasick. I've been landlocked for over half my life, the sky was a weightless feeling that I enjoyed, but my experience with water was nothing that I wanted to remember. Again, having a goddess inside you tends to nullify those natural urges to run like hell from any water that came your way.

The air smelled like the sea, but it was lighter and easier to breathe than the acid air of Tartarus. I still felt a heavy weight in my chest, but like it or not, I was relieved to be here. The world was no longer trying to keep me alive, but I felt a heavy, humid, weight lifted off my shoulders. It was like when I was little and liked to play inside a box as a hiding place - the air became hot, hard to breathe, and I needed to escape often.

I stumbled my way below deck again, trying to push down the nausea. In reality, the boat was pretty calm, but I could simply feel every wave that we passed, every slight angle that the boat tilted at, and it felt like I was standing on roller skates with one leg - completely unstable.

I headed to my room and found that the door was locked. I pressed my hand to where the keyhole should be and it clicked open, sensing my presence. Luckily the spells that I had on the room didn't fade when I left. They were spells made with a little Primordial powers, and so they'd only fade when that Primordial faded - and at that point, it wouldn't really mean much since the rest of the world would be toast as well.

I made my way inside and flinched when I saw that the room was occupied, but found that it was Kaze sleeping at the desk, Neko sleeping on his shoulder. The scene was enough to make me smile with a surge of warmth that I hadn't felt in a while - not such pure emotion that was mine, uninhibited.

I walked over to Kaze, gently pulling him up while grabbing Neko and then moving him to the bed. I set his little robot cat in front of him while he slept, and when I pulled the covers over him, he instantly gripped them and rolled over, his cat coming to life and crawling onto his shoulder again.

I smiled and went back over to the desk to switch off the light, but then saw that there was a piece of paper sitting landscape with a message written on it. I would've folded it up and ignored it, but I saw that the first part was addressed to me. Curiosity got the best of me, and I sat at the table to read the letter.

" _Rei, Onesan, I'm scared. I want you back, I need you right now. Tsuchi talked to me. She's smarter now. She's faster. She wants me to become like her. Mother-_ "

It looked like he'd scribbled out the word 'Mother,' as though he had written it upon instinct but then regretted it. He had written the note in ink with a pen, so he wasn't able to erase.

" _-Gaea wants to give me a body like her and your father. Tsuchi tells me it's because she wants to rebel, break free of Gaea's control and she needs my help. And if I had the kind of power that body would give me_ … _would I be able to get you back? If I could take control with that kind of power_ _…I might be able to fight back for once. I'm tired of losing you_.

" _And I remember, again. I never forgot in the first place, I guess, but I'd pushed the memories away. After what happened to me (and that's not your fault, by the way, I never blamed you) I remember going to the palace of Hades. I was brought before three judges, but after a while, someone else came. He was powerful, he was dark, but he wasn't evil, not like the evil I had felt earlier, that had left me there in the first place. It was Hades. I think he talked to me, I think he looked at my soul but there was little left to find. It's very hazy, but I remember him saying that I couldn't be fixed and I couldn't be restored. The only thing that I truly remember is '_ If we put him in the Lethe, nothing will come out again. He is too broken. _' They couldn't even erase my memories, and so they sent me to Asphodel remembering the pain that I'd gone through, my soul shattered and in pain - like walking with a broken bone except everything within me was broken instead_.

" _But Gaea rebuilt me, you see. I felt her pick up the shards of my heart and piece them back together, I felt her seal the wounds that had been torn through my soul, I felt her put back all of the pieces that I'd lost. Can you see now, why I trusted her? Can you see why I wanted to believe in her purity? She told me that you were alive, still being manipulated, and so many others had to be rebuilt as I did - her children. It was easy for me to take her gifts, to do as she said, and fight those that she told me were out to hurt you again. But even she was a lie_.

" _I am tired of the gods. All they have done, from before my birth to death and beyond, is take away my happiness - taken away the happiness of those I love. Please, I need you right now. I think I might take up Tsuchi's offer, take that risk if it means I'll have the strength to fight back. If you ever get this, just know that I'm doing this for you and everything you love. You've spent your life giving yourself away for others - for me, your friends, for the gods, for the whole world. I hope you'll understand, of all people, why I'm doing this to get you back. I'm not going to be useless anymore. And if I fail_ _…I just want you to know that I'm sorry you have to kill me again. Just remember that I never blamed you. I'm not even angry at the gods anymore. What will blaming anyone do anymore?_ "

I realized that the paper was crinkled slightly from tears and there were many large dots of ink where Kaze had simply held his pen in place thinking about what to say. I wondered how long he'd been working on this.

I set the paper back in place where it had been before, hoping that Kaze would think he climbed in bed himself and never suspect that I read it, and quietly left the room. I walked to Veon's room next, the door left open. It seemed that he'd gone to Emily's room and that's how he managed to somehow connect the two Primordials temporarily - and don't ask me how that worked.

He had thrown a pillow across the room and his covers had been thrown back, but otherwise, the room was the same as I remembered. I looked around, before noticing the calendar, the numbers in the corners of the days crossed out all the way up to 8. Today was the 9th. It was his birthday.

" _Depressing Birthday,_ " Someone called.

I looked over to find that Zyanya was forming out of a small cloud of smoke. I quickly kneeled down next to her and helped her sit against the wall. She was in all black, meaning that she was still Chaos.

" _This realm is not my own. I am far from my power source, but I am free._ "

She suddenly sat up straighter.

" _But that means Order is in my place._ "

She attempted to get to her feet, but she was so wobbly and weak that I forced her to stay sitting. "Hey, hey, don't push yourself."

" _Order will not handle Tartarus like I can. He will be rash, and impulsive, and he'll be powerless. And now that your Veon has been moved down there, Tartarus will have what he wants. If he manages to make the boy succumb, Tartarus will have a vessel - one that I've enhanced myself and now Order is trapped within._ "

I sighed. "So we've only made it worse."

She dropped her gaze. " _Not entirely._ "

She reached up and grabbed the window sill, pulling herself to her feet.

" _I'm free now, meaning that my strength can recover._ "

"But we're in Order's world, right?"

She shook her head. " _No. This entire world was made by both Order_ and _I - both the good and the bad have equal contribution from both of us. Even Tartarus was and is still just…just a part of us both. The only difference is that I was careless and allowed him to overpower me._ "

"Yeah, I heard the story from Order."

She smiled sadly. " _Not the whole story. Order doesn't know it, but I…I was kinda just planning to take him on a date. That's why I left without telling him._ "

"In Tartarus?"

She chuckled. " _Despite what you might believe, Tartarus was quite harmless to us before. Even Gaea was a…a worthy daughter. They once had personalities, likes and dislikes, quarrels and reconciliation. There was no difference between the peace of the Overworld and the turmoil of the Underworld. The difference between here and Tartarus was no different than the difference between here and the city. It was a bit hectic, but it wasn't odd._ "

"So…what happened to change that?"

She looked out the window at the night sky, the moon shimmering and reflecting off of the ocean. " _I'm…unsure of the details. However, I have a theory. When Order permitted the creation of more and more beings, he was hailed as a kind and humble being, while I was treated as a heathen for my hesitation and caution. But as more of Order's creations were made, they began to become afraid of becoming inferior to another. And so violence was born, Tartarus was labeled a prison and a hell despite it being a place of rebirth, and Order's favorite creations - the humans - are the wildest of them all with potential for good or evil. You were quite fun to make, and playing with you is always entertaining, but you are very unpredictable and there's no way to keep your societies straight forever._ "

I smiled. "Well, that's how we humans are."

" _And now we must use you to fix this problem we've made, balance ourselves in a never-ending struggle for stability. I ask you, am I evil for believing that I want all of this futile fighting and pain to end? Am I bad for wanting the world to fall apart just so that there will be no one left to suffer?_ "

I frowned gently. "I…no. But-"

" _That should only be a last resort, I know. Order and our other children remind me constantly. And they've managed to convince me over and over. I just wonder if you will be strong enough to convince me as well._ "

"What?"

She poked my chest. " _You and I are more alike than you realize. It's why I love you and hate you so much. It's why I believe in your strength, and why I fear your weakness. It's why I know you will triumph, and why I know you shall never be victorious._ "

With that, she disappeared.


	19. Waking Up To Chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, my dog decided it was a great idea to pee on my House of Hades book.
> 
> :l
> 
> So, yeah, I had to get a new one before I could continue. And I suppose I have found my dog's opinion on books. I'll try not to take it as a hatred of Rick's writing, the HoO series, or just House of Hades and say that it was books in general he hates for taking my attention away from him.
> 
> As for how he got the opportunity to do this heinous act, I work on the floor, okay? I've got a stand for my computer with room for one book beside it, but my HoH book was sitting on the floor that day because I was working on another book for the Shadowhunters series. I just neglected to close the door and he snuck in, finding a nice book just sitting there on the floor waiting to be destroyed.
> 
> On another note, happy 4th of July! Late update since I was doing firework stuff and celebrations but managed to get to the computer to finish this chapter.
> 
> Important response to a review:
> 
> Sunset: Yeah, my entire computer's worth of information was basically lost and all I had was the stuff I'd uploaded to FanFic and stuff I had on Google Drive - which I hardly ever used because I was like "I don't need to backup everything now. I can do it later." And here we are. Not to mention the whole dog thing, so the universe must not want me to continue this series or something, knowing the hell that I'll be putting my characters through. Quite literally.
> 
> On the bright side, my angered muse cranked out a good 80,000 words for two other stories - one based on the Dark Artifices from the Shadowhunters series (love you Cassandra Claire!) and another for Miraculous Ladybug (yes I watch it, and yes I love it). Amalspach just kinda started editing the Shadowhunters one when I sent it for feedback, so…yeah, expect that soon, anyone who follows me and likes that series.
> 
> Also, I've found a couple errors in that last chapter now that I'm reading it back - like places where I've just randomly left out a word in a sentence because I've gone word-blind. Fun! But thank you for your support. And as for your suggestion, I like having feedback and will most likely never take offense even if I don't agree with something. Unless it's a comment saying 'Your writings sucks and so do you' (which I've gotten before on a story on Fiction Press during one of my earlier stories. Bad luck getting a critic as my first reader).
> 
> As for my response, I specifically don't want Order and Chaos to have a power source and the distance be the main issue. The way that I made them is that they basically are everything. Some things are categorized with a bit more detail, but they don't have physical forms all on their own - they use hosts. Lucy even mentions that the Overworld should be Order's territory and so Chaos shouldn't be stronger there, but that's just a stereotype that developed as Order being considered good and Chaos bad. Order wanted to create more and more beings and was considered good for it, but Chaos was afraid of the repercussions and was considered bad. In the end, Chaos's fears came true and conflict began, yada, yada, yada, here we are. To the two of them, there's no difference whatsoever between the Overworld and the Underworld making one or the other stronger. Being 'safe' just means being away from something that's trying to stop them.
> 
> It's Tartarus and Gaea that are their main problem. Order and Chaos came before all of the other Primordials in my story - they're the oldest and they remember the times when Tartarus was a metaphorical kid (that's the whole Tar-tar thing from the last story that I mentioned, it's a pet name that Order and Chaos used when Tartarus was young), when Gaea was the equivalent of just another person with a personality and her attitude was just a teenager's angst, the two of them made more Primordials for funsies, etc. Order and Chaos liked to hop around wherever they wanted and just let the world spin on its own, but to do so, they had to take hosts. Now it was Tartarus that captured and contained Chaos's main essence while they were inside of a host and had their guard down, therefore throwing things out of balance, making Order weaker in turn. Since Tartarus is basically the closest thing to Order and Chaos that the family tree can offer, Tartarus is easily able to take one of them down now that he's grown up, so to speak, and once Chaos was captured, Order was left alone trying to get them back. As the story unfolds, Order and Chaos's true power will be revealed, along with some nasty side effects of their full power being restored (hope that doesn't give too much away).
> 
> Feel free to continue this debate, I wanna hear another opinion on the matter.
> 
> :)

First Person: Lucy

I woke up on an actual bed.

I had gotten used to Tartarus, I supposed, but being in a bed just felt foreign. Then again, it wasn't like that hadn't been normal in my life previously. There was a time when I'd first been taken to the States by Order to live a somewhat normal life, where I hadn't ever wanted to sleep on a mattress again because it reminded me of Ward X. For the first few months I had slept on the floor with a blanket at most.

I shoved the memories of Ward X away and climbed out of bed. I was still in my dirty clothes from Tartarus, and I'd apologize to Veon later about his sheets, but at the moment, I didn't care. I considered heading to my room to grab a change of clothes, but now that it was morning, Kaze would most likely be awake or easy to wake. Should've thought about that last night.

I still didn't trust myself to stand up and try walking while we were on this ship. I hated the sea, I hated water, and without Zyanya I had extreme hydrophobia. It wasn't that I was born that way, it's just that Ward X had used water as my only weakness, going overkill to the point of nearly killing me on a daily basis just to see what I would do and how long I'd last. Water could act as a conductor for electricity, but at the same time it could contain it and disperse it. Deep water could block out the sunlight and there was no air. A perfect trap for me.

My mother's powers had felt like more of a curse while I had been there. They wanted to see if I'd ever run out of energy, if I could be utilized like a battery if they poked and prodded the right way. I had wanted to die in that place more times than I could count, but my mother never allowed it. So now, I could barely drink water, let alone go swimming in it, and boats terrified the hell out of me.

I took it step by step, leaning against the wall. I grabbed my weapons, sitting against the window, and clipped them on again. When I grabbed Veon's lance, I suddenly remembered that he was trapped down there in Tartarus. He didn't have the mental walls that I did, Tartarus would most likely be torturing him now. He fought off Khione's ice and proved he was able to handle the darkness, but Tartarus was a whole new level. Not that Chaos would've been any easier, but still.

" _You know you still have some trials to finish,_ " Chaos said, appearing with her arms crossed, leaning against the door. " _Special circumstances allow me to bypass them now, but…it can't last forever. If you don't figure them out, I will freeze you. The stronger I get, the less likely I'll be able to hold you._ "

"You'll send me back to the dream world?"

" _I'll have no choice, given a few days. During that time, I'll have full control over your body, but I'll be partially incapacitated without your body's proven ability. Every cell in your body holds a piece of me inside. If your soul isn't strong enough, your body will explode. I'll disperse to the Chaos from whence I came. And…I'll try and fight Tartarus alone. Order will be fighting from inside, I know, but if we can't find a way to meet…I honestly don't know what will happen._ "

I chuckled. "You don't think about how…human you Primordials are."

" _Normally, we aren't. But our son is on our level of power. He was the most…unstable of our creations, being one of the first. He's powerful, he's pretty big by your standards, and I suppose time has made him bitter and my husband and I weak._ " She sighed. " _Of course, Tartarus chose to attack me as opposed to Order. Had the roles been reversed, Order would've been able to hold his own easily. He was always the…tougher parent. Normally, no one but I would dare touch Order. Even now, if Order cannot escape Tartarus without me, he will put up more than a good fight._ "

"Yeah, Order does seem like a badass."

Chaos smiled. " _You haven't seen anything. The Order you know is simply the weakened one. I myself will have mood swings because of the disrupted balance, in case you haven't already seen them. But Order, well…_ "

I smiled. "That's…gonna be fun, huh?"

" _Definitely._ "

Our light conversation was interrupted by the sound of screaming from what I identified as Hazel. I rushed out of the door and to her room, opening the door to find her under attack by a…a screeching, farting weasel.

"Gale!  _Rhit!_ "

The enchanted command forced the weasel to come to my feet, sitting and standing down obediently.

I pinched the bridge of my nose (it was a small bridge because I was Asian, but it existed). "You made me run across this ship for  _this?_  Gale, I will kill you one day."

The polecat hissed its response, " _Come and get me you little-!_ "

"Hazel!"

The others came rushing into the room to see if Hazel was okay, but all stopped frozen when they saw me. A barrage of questions started coming my way, and I didn't have the patience nor the brain power to keep track of everything and explain what happened.

"Enough!"

They all silenced at the same time. I prided myself on the ability to shut people up.

"Everyone out! Now! Hazel, the polecat wants you. Audrey, you're supposed to be on ocean duty. Nico, your shift was last night since I didn't see you in your room, get some sleep. Leo, this ship better be in good enough condition to fly because I can't stand the sea much longer. Piper, go check on Emily - she needs time, but she'll recover. Everyone else, I don't care what you do, but get out of my presence! You all  _think_ SO LOUDLY!"

I walked out of Hazel's room past all of them and up to the deck. I hopped up, giving myself a boost with a gust of wind, and landed up on the foremast. Closest place to the air I was going to get. The wind still smelled like the sea, but at least it was fresh, it was air.

I didn't know what I was supposed to do now. Hope? Of course, I'd have to complete Chaos's trials if I wanted to continue to host her and have her power. But how to do that? Find why I keep fighting. Why  _did_  I keep going? There was just something that I was clinging to, some kind of hope that maybe I  _could_  have happiness, that I could fix my broken life if I just held on a little longer.

" _Onesan?_ "

Kaze quietly zipped around to sit beside me on the mast.

" _When did you_ _…are you real?_ "

" _I think so. Emily managed to connect me and Veon last night. I had him beside me, and then suddenly we'd switched places. I never wanted him to face this. In all honesty, I'm tired, Kaze. All of these mistakes, all of these struggles, and still, here we are, still fighting with no end in sight and no reward._ "

" _Are you_ _…how have you been?_ "

" _Terrible, but I'll live. You?_ "

Kaze hesitated for a long moment before wrapping me in a tight hug. " _Don't leave me again_ _…! I can't_ _…I'm scared_ _…I won't make it_ _…I don't know what to do!_ "

I leaned against him, wrapping one arm around his body and running my hand through his hair gently. " _This battle isn't over yet, Kaze. We just have a little further to go._ "

" _It'll never be over,_ " He whined. " _We can never be free, can we?_ "

" _There's always Camp Half-Blood. Or even New Rome. We can relax and let others do the fighting for once._ "

" _Maybe._ "

" _We'll figure things out when we get there, Kaz. We just have to win this war, all right? Then we can deal with all the mundane things like jobs and school, and friends, and boyfriends, and magic, and we can find a nice place to settle down where you can still beat up the local monsters and steal from the local_ _…locals._ "

He chuckled. " _I don't think any boy would tolerate me no matter where we went._ "

" _You never know. Demigods come in all shapes and sizes._ "

" _And the gods? Would we keep them out of our lives?_ "

" _We do what we always do - help them when they're being idiots and silently curse them when they don't give us any thanks. Then we move on with our lives, stronger and wiser because of all we've been through, and then we have fun using our powers in a childish fashion against all them mortals._ "

Kaze chuckled. " _That sounds nice._ "

I rested my chin on his head. " _Yeah, it does._ "

* * *

"Something's up with Hedge," Audrey told me. "Something's got him down, and that's saying something. Facing the end of the world? He vows to punch the earth goddess in the face. I don't think I really wanna know what can get that goat down."

"Great."

"Are you even listening?"

"Shh, you talk too loudly."

Audrey rolled her eyes. "What? Are you hung over?"

"Water bad. Why does the ship have to  _move_  so much?! I'm dying over here."

"If I knew going to Tartarus would turn you into an actual teenager, I would've suggested it ages ago."

"Bleeeeeh."

"Scratch that. A  _drunk_  teenager."

"The act of talking pains me. Shhhhhhhhhhhhh."

Audrey rolled her eyes again and walked around the deck in silence, checking for threats in the water. Hazel was at the port rale, Gale running up and down the railing beside her passing gas, but the strong wind off the Adriatic helped whisk it away. I was thankful for the wind, it made me feel a little better at least, but if I let my mind wander just a little bit, I could feel the rocking of the ship and any breakfast that I had managed to get down coming right back up again.

The stupid polecat was getting on my nerves as well. It kept on chittering to Hazel, understanding full well that she couldn't speak animal, but thanks to Chaos I could hear all of her rude comments. She was here to see how stuff goes, or whatever, and it was probably Hecate pushing Hazel to start using her power over Mist. Now that Veon was gone, she had to either step up or we'd be toast. Something was about to happen. Hazel would be tested.

I'd seen Hazel around the ship, staring at objects and trying to manipulate the Mist, from her sword to the skies, and just closing her eyes and concentrating until her ears popped, but there was nothing. Veon had once told me ' _It's like the Underworld._ _The dead see what they_ believe _they will see. But the living do the same. That is the secret to the Mist._ '

Hazel admitted that she could feel the Mist, but trying to control it was no easier than staring at a brick and ordering it to move. Frank was over with Hazel now (having grown a bit since the last time I'd seen him. And by a bit, I mean a lot, like he'd grown into his weight). His personality hadn't changed, at least.

Nico was up on the foremast, perched on the yardarm. He claimed he liked to keep watch because he had good eyes, but if anyone was fooled by that, I'd be pretty surprised. The top of the mast was one of the few places on board where being alone was easy. I'd sat up there with Nico once or twice, neither of us ever saying a thing to each other - which made me happy and I suspected Nico was content as well. It made me miss Veon. Perhaps I had a natural attraction to the sons of Hades, not just romantically, but just in general for their personalities.

I'd never missed Veon more than I did now. One way or another, he was my best friend. I could nerd out to him about all of our interests, I enjoyed sitting beside him, maybe leaning on him and feeling his warmth, and I just felt comfortable with his presence in general, knowing that he was there. I missed his quirky comments, his casual approach of dark topics, always wanting to share his opinion, and I missed knowing that I could rely on him to be there in a fight or when I just needed a friend. A part of my life was missing, no matter who was in Tartarus or who was on the Argo II.

" _Having fun, little one?_ " A voice crooned.

Chaos appeared sitting on the railing, swinging her legs in a carefree manner.

"No," I stated simply. "Not at all. You? Getting stronger?"

" _Strong as I_ can  _be,_ " She sing-songed in a high-pitched voice, like she was imitating a child. " _With Order under Tar-tar's thumb, balance can't be restored. But at least_ I'm _feeling good. I can't give you much power - really, I'm draining you because we're wrong for each other. Your body has a natural response to me, though, and it seems to negate any bad effects, even if I can't give you any_ good _ones either._ "

"Cool."

She smiled down at me with a bored curiosity. " _You're lookin' a little green there. Still think it was a good idea to host me?_ "

"This has nothing to do with you. This has to do with the sea. The sea is evil. Why can't it just be smooth?"

" _Because both Order and I made it together, and anything we agree on is bound to be tumultuous at best. So, think you've figured out my trials yet? Better yet, think you've got a grasp on your own heart?_ "

"I don't have a grasp on my stomach at the moment, and you're making my head hurt."

" _Well, that's practically in my job description._ " She hopped off the railing, leaning over while resting her hands on her knees to loom over me. " _Are you gonna die? This is the end of the world we're talking about, so snap to it, buddy bud. I still wanna know what keeps you ticking, you know. You're heart and soul are so unique, it's hard_ not _to be interested._ "

"Glad to know I'm so important to you as a pet host."

" _Oh, you're important to me! I happen to like you from the little bit that I've seen so far. I_ do _miss your little boy toy though. He was cute, and really nice too. I bet_ he'd _have no trouble with my trials._ "

"Define ' _no trouble._ '"

She tapped her chin in thought. " _Hmm…how about…a minimal_ _amount of screaming and maybe a little death, torture, internal bleeding here and there. External bleeding too, of course. I would've loved tearing into his soul and seeing what beauty and crudeness lie within._ "

She said that with a dreamy look in her eyes, and I couldn't help but roll my own. "Yeah, I kinda want to keep him at a distance from all of that, if you don't mind. Look, I can handle your trials, you just have to give me a little time within them."

She jumped onto the railing and then flopped over to lie on it casually, swinging her arm over one side and her leg over the other. " _Weeeeell, I'll try. I don't really have much control over them. You might go in, you might come out, you might have my power, you might be drained of your own. Who can say? I certainly can't. Not even the Fates know how this battle's going to go. We'll have a test with the giant turtle, perhaps. Yes, that sounds like a great idea. Have fun!_ "

"Giant turtle?"

But Chaos - Zyanya, I suppose - disappeared with a small wave. I sighed, pulling myself to my feet and leaning against the rail for stability. Giant turtle probably meant bad things were coming. I started walking around the deck looking over into the sea, trying to keep my thoughts concentrated on a possible monster lurking down there. That didn't help me with my seasickness and hydrophobia at all.

"Nico is my only relative," Hazel was saying to Frank. "He's not easy to like, but…thanks for being kind to him."

Frank smiled. "Hey, you put up with my grandmother in Vancouver. Talk about  _not easy to like._ "

"I loved your grandmother!"

Gale the polecat scampered up to them, farted, and ran away with a polecat laugh. Ugh, Hecate sure could pick 'em.

"Ugh," Frank groaned, mimicking my thoughts and waving away the smell. "Why is that thing here, anyway?"

I had a feeling that if we were on dry land, gold and gems would probably be popping up all around her feet. She looked agitated, on edge, nervous. She knew that she was being tested, but she didn't know what she was being tested about and how she was supposed to accomplish her goals without knowing how to use the Mist.

"Hecate sent Gale to observe," Hazel said.

"Observe what?" Frank asked.

She hesitated, looking down in thought. "I don't know. Some kind of test."

I looked down into the water and saw a large shadow. It wasn't just my imagination, as I had secretly hoped, but as it got closer, I realized just how big it was - and how close it was to the ship.

"Incoming!" I screamed.

The boat lurched forward. Hazel and Frank tumbled over each other, Hazel accidentally giving herself the Heimlich maneuver with the pommel of her sword and curling up on deck, moaning and coughing up the taste of katobleps poison. Frank ended up pinning her legs, tangled in a pile of loose rope.

Everything started going haywire. I was knocked off my feet and had the strong urge just to lie there and let the others handle things (I hate boats and lurching boats were even worse), but I managed to sit up and grab my bow for balance as I stood. Festus the figurehead was creaking in alarm and shooting fire, while the ship rocked to port with a massive commotion, like telephone poles snapping in half.

"Gahh!" Leo yelled. "It's eating the oars!"

I grabbed an arrow and felt as it was released from the quiver, taking aim and charging the weapon up with electricity. It was surprisingly harder than normal, my arms straining and the electricity I produced draining me to see spots within seconds. I let the arrow fly, hitting the giant rock in the ocean that must've been the turtle Zyanya had wanted to do some sort of test with. The arrow exploded in a blast of lightning, but it barely scratched the surface. I must've only hit the shell.

Jason jumped over Hazel and Frank, his sword drawn, and raced towards the stern. Piper was already on the quarterdeck, shooting food from her cornucopia and yelling, "Hey! HEY! Eat this, ya stupid turtle!"

Frank managed to get to his feet and helped Hazel, but she was clutching her stomach and didn't seem in any condition to fight. She nodded for Frank to go and he sprinted up the steps, slinging off his backpack, which instantly transformed into a bow and quiver. By the time he reached the helm, he had already fired one arrow and was nocking a second.

Leo frantically worked the ship's controls. "Oars won't retract. Get it away! Get it away!"

Up in the rigging, Nico's face was slack with shock. "Styx…it's huge!" He yelled. "Port! Go Port!"

Audrey had her hands out trying to use the water to push the turtle away, but the thing was the size of an island. When you first heard the word 'turtle' you imagined a cute little thing the size of a jewelry box, sitting on a rock in the middle of a fish pond. When you heard 'huge' the compensation was like the Galapagos tortoise in a zoo with a shell big enough to ride on. Audrey was basically trying to lift the equivalent of a lion turtle from Avatar: The Last Airbender's bigger brother with just her willpower.

The massive dome of craggy black and brown squares hardly resembled the word  _turtle_. Its shell was more like a landmass - hills of bone, shiny pearl valleys, kelp and moss forests, rivers of seawater trickling down the grooves of its carapace. On the ship's starboard side, another part of the monster rose from the water like a submarine. It appeared the be the head, its gold eyes the size of wading pools, with dark sideways slits for pupils. Its skin glistened like wet army camouflage - brown flecked with green and yellow. Its red toothless mouth could've swallowed the Athena Parthenos in one bite.

Kaze was throwing bombs into the water and then his shuriken at speed, but the giant turtle had an armor of a shell that he couldn't get through no matter how hard he tried. To my surprise, Emily came up from below deck, leaning against the walls and railing for support, but looked down at the turtle and started sweet-talking it.

Coach Hedge was the last one on deck. He compensated for that with enthusiasm. He bounded up the steps, waving his baseball bat, and without hesitation goat-galloped to the stern and leaped over the rail with a gleeful "Ha-HA!"

Hazel staggered towards the quarterdeck as the boat shuddered and more oars snapped, accompanied by Leo yelling, "No, no, no! Dang slimy-shelled son of a mother!"

Coach Hedge clambered around the turtle's shell, whacking at it uselessly with his baseball bat and yelling, "Take that! And that!"

I drew another arrow, but my arms were hurting me at this point. I fired off another exploding arrow at the monster's eye, thought I couldn't tell if its roaring was from pain or just the normal growling as it snapped off half a dozen more oars.

"Stop that!" Leo wailed.

Jason flew from the stern and landed on the creature's head. He stabbed his golden sword straight between its eyes, but the blade slipped sideways, as if the turtle's skin were greased steel. Frank shot arrows at the monster's eyes with even less success than me, the turtle's filmy inner eyelids blinked with uncanny precision, deflecting each shot.

Piper shot cantaloupes into the water yelling, "Fetch, ya stupid turtle!" but the turtle seemed fixated on eating the Argo II.

Kaze rushed up to the monsters face and started slamming his shuriken into the turtle's eyes, his speed blowing a breeze from the force he was putting into each hit. The turtle roared and completely closed the eye Kaze had hit, but after that, Kaze couldn't break through the eyelids. Kaze started getting angry when the turtle closed  _both_  its eyes and simply ate the ship blindly, smashing his shuriken on the turtle's head with enough force to produce a shockwave that sent Jason back. Luckily the blonde knew how to control the wind on his own, but it seemed Kaze was infusing wind into his strikes without even meaning to.

"You need to stop, big guy~!" Emily crooned. "Don't eat the ship, it's not good for your health!"

"Something's controlling it!" Audrey announced. "I'm trying to communicate, but there's another will interfering - like with Porky, but definitely  _not_  Porky!"

"Could this be Keto?" Frank suggested.

"If it is, I certainly can't tell. She has a sort of godly scent, you know? Whenever she sent a monster after us, I started to get a sensation telling me it was her. This is definitely different, not as ancient as Keto, but still strong."

"Then who has the kind of power to order  _this_  thing around?!"

"It's not the ordering around that's the problem, the turtle seems happy enough to attack on it's own! It's the fact that it refuses to listen to me tell it to stop! It's gone berserk with the sole intent of taking us down under!"

"How did it get so close?!" Hazel screamed.

Leo threw his hands up in exasperation. "Must be that shell. Guess it's invisible to sonar. It's a freaking stealth turtle!"

I put my hand to my chin in thought. "The shell would definitely work to muffle sound waves, but…if this thing has some master that has power over  _it_ , then what are the odds that this master has control over the sea? Audrey could easily fool the sonar with her own powers over sound in the water. Whoever this is, we need to be careful."

"What does it matter now? We need to get out of here!" Piper exclaimed. "Can the ship fly?"

"With half our oars broken off?" Leo punched some buttons and spun his Archimedes sphere. "I'll have to try something else."

"There!" Nico yelled from above. "Can you get us to those straits?"

He pointed to a long strip of land that ran parallel to the coastal cliffs about half a mile to the east. It was hard to be sure from a distance, but the stretch of water between them looked to be only twenty or thirty yards across - possibly wide enough for the Argo II to slip through, but definitely not wide enough for the giant turtle's shell. That was, if the thing didn't bust through by force.

"Yeah, yeah." Leo apparently understood. He turned the Archimedes sphere. "Jason, Kaze, get away from that thing's head! I have an idea!"

" _Kaze! Retreat!_ " I shouted.

Jason and Kaze had been hacking away at the turtle's face, but when Jason heard Leo say ' _I have an idea_ ,' he made the only smart choice. He flew away as fast as possible. Kaze looked back over to the ship and I pointed at Leo. Kaze nodded and jumped from the turtle's nose, a gust of air boosting him before he then spun his shuriken like a helicopter's propeller to help fly him up to the ship's deck.

"Coach, come on!" Jason called.

"No, I got this!" Hedge said, but Jason grabbed him around the waist and took off.

Unfortunately, the coach struggled so much that Jason's sword fell out of his hand and splashed into the sea.

"Coach!" Jason complained.

"What?" Hedge said. "I was softening him up!"

"Great, why did it have to be  _Jason's_  sword that we lost?" I muttered. "If it were Riptide this would  _not_  be an issue."

The turtle head-butted the hull, almost tossing the whole crew off the port side if it weren't for Audrey keeping the boat stable enough. We probably would've overturned from a hit that hard if it weren't for her keeping things together. I heard a cracking sound, like the keel had splintered.

"Guys, we don't have Veon's tar to keep this thing together!" She shouted.

"Just another minute," Leo said, his hands flying over the console.

"We might not be here in another minute!" Frank shouted, firing his last arrow.

"Bad turtle!" Emily shouted. "You should be ashamed of yourself! Ramming into ships is bad!"

The turtle island roared almost like it was whining in protest to Emily's lecture.

"Go away!" Piper yelled at the turtle.

For a moment, it actually seemed to have worked. The turtle turned from the ship and dipped its head underwater. But then it came right back and rammed us even harder.

Jason and Coach Hedge landed on the deck.

"You all right?" Piper asked.

"Fine," Jason muttered. "Without a weapon, but fine."

"Leo!" Kaze called. " _Get the weapons prepared!_ "

"Yeah, I know!" Leo called, though he probably had no idea what Kaze just said. "Audrey, get ready!"

Kaze rushed around the ship. He and Leo had plenty of projects on the ship, but I had no idea if Kaze had upgraded any of Leo's weapons or if Leo even knew exactly what Kaze had done.

"Fire in the shell!" Leo cried, spinning his Wii controller.

I nearly thought the stern had exploded. Jets of fire blasted out behind us, washing over the turtle's head. The ship shot forward and threw most of us to the deck. When I hauled myself up, I saw that the ship was bouncing over the waves at incredible speed, trailing fire like a rocket. The turtle was already a hundred yards behind us, its head charred and smoking.

The monster bellowed in frustration and started after us, its paddle feet scooping through the water with such power that it actually started to gain on us. The entrance to the straits was still a quarter mile ahead.

"A distraction," Leo muttered. "We'll never make it unless we get a distraction."

Audrey concentrated, her arms out in front of her as she pushed them forward and the ocean waves started to part for them, lowering the amount of force we were fighting against and increasing our speed.

"Vrontí!" I shouted.

Thunder boomed in the sky before my horse came zipping through the air and landing on the deck. Lightning and wind swirled around in an aura of power, and Vrontí - Thunder - stood at the ready. I smiled and climbed aboard the storm spirit, instantly feeling better and in my element. It was good to see my horse again.

"You need a distraction? I can give you one!"

I willed the horse forward and we took off, flying through the air towards the turtle's head as I held my bow out and swung it like a sword, smacking and slicing at the large creature while Vrontí handled the flying. Not long after, Arion joined the fray with Hazel and Piper aboard. Arion was faster than my storm spirit, but the two of us were still fast and had the added bonus of being able to fly while Arion was running across the water - gravity still a factor. Vrontí was able to shoot lightning and have the winds on our side, too.

The turtle was a fast swimmer, but it couldn't match the horses' speed. Hazel and Piper zipped around the monster's head, Hazel slicing with her sword, Piper shouting random commands like, "Dive! Turn left! Look behind you!"

Vrontí was surprisingly powerful, zapping the turtle with a blast of lightning at its shell hard enough to made it roar in anger if not pain. Together, the two of us played a game of attack and retreat. Hazel's sword did no damage, and each command from Piper only worked for a moment, but we were making the turtle very annoyed. The horses whinnied derisively as the turtle snapped at them, only to get a mouthful of horse vapor.

It was only when the pegasus joined the fray that I really started losing it. Audrey was riding on a brilliant white horse with wings, with a main and tail with blues, purples, and greens flowing like liquid. Emily was riding behind her, the two of them charging in and gaining speed. Her horse whinnied with a battle cry as they charged straight in at the turtles face, exploding in a blast of water with a shockwave so powerful I could feel it in the air. The turtle was thrown back from the force, roaring up at the sky before it stabilized in the water again.

With a whoosh and the sound of splashing water, Audrey, Emily, and their horse appeared in the air hovering beside me and Vrontí.

"Where'd the horse come from?" I asked.

"This is Ariel, gift from my dad," Audrey explained, smiling like a maniac. "And she is  _awesome~!_ "

"I can connect Audrey to the turtle, but only for a short period of time," Emily explained. "I'm not recovered from the whole Order and Chaos thing, but I think I can enhance the bonds and connections between people and creatures depending on both the initial bond of emotions already formed as well as the compatibility. Audrey's definitely compatible with a sea creature, but because she doesn't have an initial friendship or previous connection with it, I don't know how well it'll work."

"Can we maybe sever the bond with its current master by taking control and making the turtle forget its orders to kill?" I suggested.

"Only for the period of time Audrey has control. This master has a tight hold on the turtle both because of their compatibility and because he's owned the turtle long enough to be good friends with it."

"Let's distract the turtle and buy the Argo II time to get to safety. If we can't, we'll try the technique. Let's not waste our trump card while we have the element of surprise. Come on, Hazel needs our help!"

The two of us urged our horses forward, splitting up and working with Arion to strike the turtle, gain its attention, and then surge out of reach. The three of us working together quickly had the monster completely forgetting about the Argo II, smacking, stabbing, water-smashing, zapping, distracting with charm-speaking commands, and bouncing coconuts and roasted chickens off the turtle's eyeballs with Piper's cornucopia.

When the Argo II had passed into the straits, Emily and Piper both shouted for the turtle to turn around and swim in the opposite direction. They repeated the command multiple times in unison until the turtle had completely made a U turn. After one final command to start swimming away, all three horses broke off the harassment, speeding after the ship before landing on deck.

The rocket fire had extinguished, though smoking bronze exhaust vents still jutted from the stern. The Argo II limped forward under sail power, but the plan had paid off. They were safely harbored in the narrow waters, with a long, rocky island to starboard and the sheer white cliffs of the mainland to port. The turtle stopped at the entrance to the straits and glared at us balefully, but it made no attempt to follow. Its shell was obviously much too wide.

Hazel dismounted and got a big hug from Frank. "Nice work out there!"

Her face flushed. "Thanks."

Piper slid down next to her. "Leo, since when do we have  _jet_  propulsion?"

"Aw, you know…" Leo tried to look modest and failed. "Just a little something I whipped up in my spare time. Wish I could give you more than a few seconds of burn, but at least it got us out of there."

" _I hope you appreciate the speed booster we installed,_ " Kaze said confidently. " _Leo and I have been working on all kinds of ways to reinforce and weaponize the ship._ "

"Kaze seems to be proud of his work," I reported.

"It roasted the turtle's head," Jason said appreciatively. "So what now?"

"Kill it!" Coach said. "You even have to ask? We got enough distance. We got ballistae. Lock and load, demigods!"

Jason frowned. "Coach, first of all, you made me lose my sword."

"Hey! I didn't ask for an evac!"

"Second, I don't think the ballistae will do any good. That shell is like the Nemean Lion skin. Its head isn't any softer."

"So we chuck one right down its throat, like you guys did with that shrimp monster thing in the Atlantic. Light it up from the inside."

I slid off my horse. "That might work, but then we have a five-million-kilo turtle carcass blocking the entrance to the straits. If we can't fly with the oars broken, how do we get the ship out?"

"You wait and fix the oars! Or just sail the other direction, you big galoot."

"What's a galoot again?"

" _Galllllooooot!_ " Kaze repeated.

"Guys!" Nico called down from the mast. "About sailing the other direction? I don't think that's going to work."

He pointed past the prow. A quarter mile ahead of us, the long rocky strip of land curved in and met the cliffs. The channel ended in a narrow V.

"We're not in a strait," Audrey realized. "We're in a dead end."

On the port rail, Gale the weasel sat up on her haunches, staring at Hazel expectantly.

"This is a trap," Hazel summarized.

The others all looked at her.

"Nah, it's fine," Leo said. "Worse that happens, we make repairs. Might take overnight, but I can get the ship flying again. Plus speedster Kaze can help a bunch."

At the mouth of the inlet, the turtle roared. It didn't appear interested in leaving.

"Well…" Piper shrugged. "At least the turtle can't get us. We're safe here."

That was something no demigod should ever say. The words had barely left Piper's mouth when Kaze shouted an accented " _Pie-Pa!_ " and tackled her out of the way. Just six inches from where her face had been, an arrow sank into the mainmast.


	20. Held at Gunpoint (and Turtle-point)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the hiatus but I've been lost in the world of Shadowhunters and then the world of Calculus. In return…have a long chapter? To some that's great, but to others, it's like, I don't have time to read all this, are you crazy?! I know that I have trouble reading chapters that are too long. Life, man, it sucks.
> 
> But I need to get going on this story again, dammit. I've had the entire encounter here planned out long ago and I need to get it on the computer already.
> 
> Now that Amalspach's returned to school, AP classes have taken over and she even suggested putting our Shadowhunter story on hiatus because she won't be able to do any editing, so I was like 'I've already written to the sequel and I'll keep posting, keep up if you can!' But I'll stop with that story and work on my others, for goodness' sake.
> 
> Good news for this story. It means I've returned!
> 
> :)

First Person: Kaze

The crew scattered for cover, Piper frozen and gaping at the arrow that had almost pierced her nose the hard way.

Only Onesan stood motionless, looking up for the arrow's origin point.

Jason hissed something an waved for her to get down for cover, something along the lines of ' _Duck!_ '

I activated my magic bead or whatever so that I could translate. "The arrow was not aiming for Piper. It was merely very close."

"How can you tell?" Emily asked.

"I am fast. It merely came very close."

Onesan pointed. "Up there. Single shooter. See him?"

The sun was in our eyes, but each of us spotted the tiny figure standing at the top of the ledge. His bronze armor glinted in the distance.

"Who the heck is he?" Leo demanded. "Why is he firing at us?"

"The arrow missed Piper because he was sending a message," Onesan said instead, grabbing a parchment scroll that was tied to the arrow shaft.

"Uh, are you sure that's…" She unrolled it. "…safe?" Leo muttered.

"First line: ' _Stand and deliver._ '"

"What does that mean?" Coach Hedge complained. "We  _are_  standing. Well, crouching, anyway. And if that guy is expecting a pizza delivery, forget it!"

"Hedge, shut up," I snapped. Being able to tell what the satyr was saying now wasn't exactly a blessing. "It means he expects us to surrender our valuables."

"He's right," Onesan said. "' _This is a robbery. Send three of your party to the top of the cliff with all your valuables. No more than three. Leave the magic horses. No flying. No tricks. Just climb._ '"

"Climb  _what?_ " Piper asked.

Nico pointed. "There."

A narrow set of steps was curved into the cliff, leading to the top. The turtle, the dead-end channel, the cliff…this wasn't the first time the letter writer had ambushed a ship here.

"This was a trap," I declared. "We used many long ago, remember, Onesan?"

She nodded. "This was very deliberate. The only question that remains is whether he intends to release us once he has what he wants. He takes our valuables, we lose our value and our only bargaining chips to get out of here. If that turtle doesn't move, we're stuck either way."

Hazel took the parchment with slight rage in her actions, clearing her throat to continue. "' _I do mean_ all _your valuables. Otherwise my turtle and I will destroy you. You have five minutes._ '"

"Use the catapults!" Cried the coach.

"' _P.S. Don't even think about using your catapults._ '"

"Curse it! This guy is good."

"Is the note signed?" Audrey asked.

Hazel shook her head. I may have heard the story of a robber who worked with a giant turtle before, but I couldn't remember the name. Something with an 'S.' Hercules defeated him? Or was it Perseus?

The weasel Gale watched Hazel. Now was the time for her test. Hazel needed to prove her ability to manipulate the Mist…only she  _couldn't_  manipulate the Mist. She had been practicing with Veon, but now that he was gone, she was left on her own.

Leo studied the cliff top and muttered under his breath. "That's not a good trajectory. Even if I could arm the catapult before that guy pincushioned us with arrows, I don't think I could make the shot. That's hundreds of feet, almost straight up."

"Yeah," Frank grumbled. "My bow is useless too. He's got a huge advantage, being above us like that. I couldn't reach him."

"I might, with my enchanted bow," Onesan declared. "But he has the advantage nonetheless. There are many of us as well as the ship to protect - he is one target in the distance, and holding the turtle at arrow-point isn't exactly an option either."

Piper nudged the arrow that was stuck in the mast. "I have a feeling he's a good shot. He didn't  _mean_  to hit me this time, but if he did…"

She didn't need to elaborate. Whoever that robber was, he could hit a target from hundreds of feet away - he could shoot them all even if my sister could get off a single shot against him. She was right, we had too many liabilities.

"I'll go," Hazel said.

It wasn't a cheery thought, but Hecate had to have set this up as some sort of twisted challenge. This was Hazel's test -  _her_  turn to save the ship. As if she needed confirmation, Gale scampered along the railing and jumped on her shoulder, ready to hitch a ride. Everyone stared at Hazel.

Frank gripped his bow. "Hazel-"

"No, listen," She insisted. "This robber wants valuables. I can go up there, summon gold, jewels, whatever he wants."

Audrey gave a nervous glance around the group. "If we pay him off, you think he'll actually let us go?"

"We don't have much choice," Nico said. "Between that guy and the turtle…"

Jason raised his hand and the others fell silent. "I'll go too. The letter says three people. Hazel's one, I'll be the second. I'll take Hazel up there and watch her back. Besides, I don't like the look of those steps. If Hazel falls…well, I can use the winds to keep us both from coming down the hard way."

Arion whinnied in protest, as if to say, ' _You're going without me? You're kidding, right?_ '

"Bringing you all would only put the rest of the crew at risk," Onesan said to the horses. "But Vrontí and I might be able to take care of the turtle."

"How?" Emily asked.

"I still have slight access to the Primordial powers. If I can summon something, I might be able to take down the monster with attacks that bypass defense. If Vrontí can get me in close enough, then I can summon a beast to fight the turtle and even turn its carcass to dust so that we can escape this place. Then again, maybe having it there will ward off other sea creatures while we make repairs to the ship."

"That leaves its master. What are we supposed to do about  _him?_ " Piper asked.

"Emily or Piper should go if there's negotiating to be done," Leo pointed out.

"But if he's resistant to charm speak or realizes what we're trying to do?" Emily asked. "I can manipulate and connect to people's emotions, Piper's words and commands are stronger than mine, but whichever one of us goes, if we find out that he knows about our powers and has the will to resist us, then we'll be useless. Besides, I'm not fully recovered yet, and I don't wanna risk it."

"She's right," Piper said. "This guy might have an ego to exploit, but if he senses that we're trying to play him, he could probably take down everyone on this ship and we might be able to buy a few seconds at most. The ship's not ready to fly, we're trapped in this valley, and if we're going to take him out, we can't let him suspect foul play."

"I am fast, I can go," I volunteered. "I can be number three. Jason handles flying, I handle the speed of the man. And I have wind power too. Whoosh!"

I held my hand out and a small breeze flew across the crew. I didn't tell them, but I that was really the extent of my control over wind. Mostly, I just manually waved at high speeds to summon winds and gusts of air.

Hazel petted her horse. "I have to, Arion. Jason, Kaze…yes. I think you're right. It's the best plan."

"Only wish I had my sword." Jason glared at the coach. "It's back there at the bottom of the sea beyond the giant turtle."

Audrey held her hand out and flicked her finger, waving for the sword to get over to the ship. A moment later, the sword shot up from the water and into her hand.

She flipped the blade and pointed the hilt to Jason. "Here."

His eyes widened as he blinked in surprise. "Thanks. That was like half a mile."

"A little practice goes a long way," She shrugged.

"Half a mile away," Emily added.

Hazel stared up at the man at the top of the cliff, a determined look on her face. She felt so angry at Hecate and so tired of being manipulated by the gods that she wasn't going to let any trifling problems stand in her way.

"Now, if there are no other objections, we have a robber to meet."

* * *

I liked the great outdoors. For a long point in my life, I lived without a house and only had my own survival skills to work with. Of course, climbing a 200-foot cliff on a stairway without rails with a bad-tempered weasel wasn't exactly glorifying. Especially when we could've just taken the magic horses or just flew up in a matter of seconds. But we all agreed that hiding Jason and my abilities to have at least a small advantage may prove useful should our robber try anything.

I was up front, testing out the stairs with my quick reflexes if anything went wrong, with Hazel behind me (weasel and all) and Jason behind  _her_  so he could catch her if she fell. Hazel appreciated the gestures, but it didn't make the sheer drop any less scary. She glanced to her right, which was a mistake. Her foot almost slipped, sending a spray of gravel over the edge with Gale squeaking in alarm.

"You all right?" Jason asked.

"Yes." Hazel didn't look all right. "Fine."

Hazel didn't have any room to turn and look back to Jason. She just had to trust that he wouldn't let her plummet to her death. I was ambidextrous in most activities, but I preferred my left side for important situations. Keeping the cliff and the more solid footings at my left helped me stay calm and in control of the situation, but if Hazel fell, I'd have to rely on my right hand to grab her.

Hazel still seemed uneasy about Jason. At Camp Jupiter, she'd heard stories about him. The campers spoke with reverence about the son of Jupiter who'd risen from the lowly ranks of the Fifth Cohort to become praetor, led them to victory in the Battle of Mount Tam, then disappeared. Even now, after all the events of the past couple of weeks, Jason seemed more like a legend than a person. She had a hard time warming up to him, with those icy blue eyes and that careful reserve, like he was calculating every word before he said it. Also, she couldn't forget how he had ben ready to write off her brother, Nico, when they'd learned he was captive in Rome.

Jason had thought Nico was bait for a trap. He had been right, of course, but it still wasn't very nice to say that we shouldn't try and save him. Maybe, now that Nico was safe, Hazel could see why Jason's caution was a good idea. Still, she didn't quite know what to think of the guy. What if they got themselves in trouble at the top of this cliff, and Jason decided that saving  _Hazel_  wasn't in the best interest of the quest?

Jason was definitely an ally that I knew I could somewhat rely on. He was a soldier, not only that, a leader, but at the same time, he knew what it was important to put comrades before a mission. If every leader was so callus, the kind of sacrifices would be far from worth it. I could see that Jason was kind, he had people that he cared about, and putting a friend before the quest was something he'd easily decide on. It was just that he hadn't known Nico very well before, Nico wasn't a part of the prophecy of seven and not his friend yet.

Nico was quiet and scarred in many ways, but at the same time he was strong and looking for some amount of solace. And maybe he'd find it one day. Everyone on the Argo II were good people, I knew that much for certain.

I looked up. I couldn't see the thief from here, but I knew he was waiting. I'd done my fair share of stealing, and Hazel's abilities to summon gems would most likely satisfy his desires. She was confident that she could produce enough gems and gold to impress even the greediest robber. I wondered if she still had that thing about cursed gems that she summoned. With her having died once before, who knows what the rules were anymore? Anybody who robbed innocent demigods with a giant turtle deserved a few nasty curses, that was for sure.

Gale the weasel jumped off Hazel's shoulder and scampered ahead, glancing back and barking eagerly.

I rushed over to satisfy the weasel (polecat, whatever, weasel was a more appropriate name for it), and it moved ahead.

"Going as fast as I can," Hazel muttered.

Why did I have the feeling that the weasel was anxious to watch her fail?

"This, uh, controlling the Mist," Jason began. "Have you had any luck?"

"No," Hazel admitted.

Veon had been a master at using the Mist, and I admired the use of magic - even if I was more of a mechanical thinker like Leo. At the very least, he'd given me a way to communicate with the others, if a little oddly. Everyone still sounded weird, not to mention my English, even when being automatically translated, still needed some work. Though to me, I was still speaking Japanese, if I spoke too fast, stuttered on my words, tried to use slang, or otherwise, things tended to come out wrong.

Hazel, meanwhile, had been taking lessons from Veon, and though she claimed she could  _sense_  the Mist, she had spent many hours on the Argo II simply staring at objects and trying to make them look like something else - which was just as easy as it sounded. She tried to turn a seagull into a dragon, she tried Coach Hedge's baseball bat that stubbornly refused to turn into a hot dog. She just couldn't make herself believe any of it was possible, and without belief, no powers were easy to use - especially one that was based on using one's desires and beliefs and twisting them around.

"You'll get it," Jason assured her.

His tone seemed to surprise Hazel. It wasn't a throwaway comment just to be nice. He sounded truly convinced. Why did Jason have to be so nice, and strong, and cute looking? Piper was lucky, not to mention Piper was a daughter of Aphrodite, so Jason was pretty lucky too. Besides Percy and Annabeth, I'd say they made a cool power couple. Hazel and Frank were both shy and lacking confidence, but in turn they were really nice. They were that couple that would probably stand in the back of the room trying not to be noticed and always talking to each other and trying to make each other smile.

Even Onesan had Veon. They weren't a lovey-dovey couple that were obvious as any of the others of the crew, but there was still a way that they looked at each other, a way they relaxed in each other's presence, a way they started to gravitate towards each other in subtle ways, and the inordinate amount of staring that went on between each other. They were hesitant to act in any way without the other's consent, but they were also reluctant to admit that they wanted something, even a small holding of hands. They wanted the other to make the first move because both were so shy when it came to romance. It was adorable, but it was also a little enduring.

No matter how she was handling her relationship though, it was nice to see my sister so relaxed. She didn't let her guard down easy in the time we were together, she never could. Maybe a lot had changed in the time that I'd been dead, but either way, she seemed to have found people that made her happy, especially Veon that actually made her clueless as to how she should be acting. In all the time we'd been together, she'd been in charge, looking after me as well as looking after herself. She's always known what to do, knew how to improvise, and was a leader through and through. But just for a few moments, whenever Veon was looking at her, she took a few extra seconds to process things, she relaxed but also grew self-conscious of her actions, and one might've mistaken her for someone normal.

Why couldn't  _I_  have that? The only other boys on the ship were Leo and Nico - both ending in 'o,' one of them being like a fellow mechanic and the other being a little too antisocial for my tastes. I respected both of them, but I far from loved them.

Where were we? Ah, yes, Hazel's insecurities and problems with the Mist.

"How can you be sure?" She asked.

"Just am," Jason answered simply. "I've got a good instinct for what people can do - demigods anyway. Hecate wouldn't have picked you if she didn't believe you had power."

Maybe that should've made Hazel feel better, but it didn't.

 _She_  had a good instinct for people too. She understood what motivated most of her friends - even her brother, Nico, who wasn't easy to read. But Jason? She didn't have a clue. Everybody said he was a natural leader. She believed it. Here he was, making her feel like a valued member of the team, telling her she was capable of anything. But what was  _Jason_  capable of?

She talked to Emily about her doubts, as Emily would know even if she didn't, but Hazel was afraid to tell anyone else. Frank was in awe of the guy; Piper, of course, was head-over-heels; Leo was his best friend; even Nico seemed to follow his lead without question. Onesan was practically Jason's sister and respected him as a fellow leader; Audrey was a cousin and was also a partner in charge as Jason's equal; Veon liked Jason as both a friend and a Child-of-the-Big-Three bro and was also too kind for his own good - burdening him with her concerns made Hazel feel guilty.

But Hazel couldn't forget that Jason had been Hera's first move in the war against the giants. The Queen of Olympus had dropped Jason into Camp Half-Blood, which had started this entire chain of events to stop Gaea. Why Jason first? It was obvious that Jason was the linchpin of some kind; Jason would be the final play, too.

' _Too storm or fire the world must fall._ ' Wasn't that what the oh-so-famous prophecy said? Fire was scary, but so were storms. Jason Grace could cause some pretty huge storms.

I glanced up and saw the rim of the cliff only a few yards above us.

I turned back to the others. "We should use language barriers to our advantage. I can switch my gem to allow me to translate English but speak Japanese. I am the thief with the valuables of the ship, tell the robber that. I have some to satisfy him, Hazel do the rest."

Jason nodded. "Probably a good idea. If he thinks Kaze can't understand him but knows why we brought him, we may get another advantage. At this point, we should take everything we can get."

We reached the top, Hazel breathless and sweaty, but Jason looked no worse for the climb and I was honestly bored, considering I had been forced to walk up this stupid cliff at regular speed. A long sloping valley marched inland, dotted with scraggly olive trees and limestone borders. There were no signs of civilization.

Hazel looked ready to collapse from the climb alone, but Gale seemed anxious to explore. The weasel barked and farted and scampered into the nearest bushes. Far below, the Argo II looked like a toy boat in the channel. Shooting an arrow accurately from this high up, accounting for the wind and the glare of the sun off the water…this shooter was on par with Onesan. Of course, I'd seen her do impressive feats, but I hated to admit that this shooter was smart and skilled.

At the mouth of the inlet, the massive shape of the turtle's shell glinted like a burnished coin. Onesan had said her plan relied on the turtle's master being taken out first. If we couldn't do that, she would use her power to try and create a portal for the Argo II to get them to escape - along with protecting them from any attacks, no matter how fast. The only problem with that was the portal was risky with something so big. They could get lost within the portal, everything could come out safely on the other side or nothing and they'd all be lost. Her powers over Chaos weren't exactly stable at the moment, and anything could happen. The portal would be a last resort. Fighting the giant turtle? That, however, was simple, she said.

Stopping the master was the first priority. We did that, then the turtle was fair game. We could pacifist-run things by using Emily and Audrey to try and take control once the turtle's master was gone, but Emily said that the loss of the turtle's master with such a strong and aged bond would make it unstable to instantly take on a new one. That would be like me losing my sister and instantly, seconds later, being expected to have a whole new stranger as my new sister. Impossible.

"If the turtle doesn't leave once its master is gone, couldn't we just let it sit there?" Piper had suggested. "It'll keep other monsters from getting to us, the turtle can't get us, and we'd be able to make repairs."

"The turtle wouldn't exactly go quiet into that good night," Onesan pointed out. "Look at how small this inlet is. The turtle could ram his way through if it was angry enough - and with the death of a master it had for a long time, that'd be pretty maddening - or it could simply overwhelm the ship with tidal waves with a few proper strokes. Even if it couldn't drown the boat, we'd have trouble getting  _any_  repairs done under those conditions. If the turtle stays, it'll have to be its carcass."

Even if we couldn't stop the master entirely, if we could distract him long enough, we might be able to buy her time to destroy the turtle or even use it to our advantage. How? Well, that was something she was considering. So many options, she said.

So now it was our turn.

Jason looked around. "Where-?"

"Here!"

Hazel flinched. Only ten feet away, a man had appeared, a bow and quiver over his shoulder and two old-fashioned flintlock dueling pistols in his hands. He wore high leather boots, leather breeches, and a pirate-style shirt. His curly black hair looked like a little kid's do and his sparkly green eyes were friendly enough, but a red bandana covered the lower half of his face.

"Welcome!" The bandit cried, pointing his guns at us. "Your money or your life!"

* * *

" _S_ _h_ _in_ _chōna_ ," I warned.

That man was fast,  _very_  fast. To the others, it must've looked like he'd simply materialized out of nowhere.

"Who are you?" Hazel asked.

The bandit laughed. "Sciron, of course!"

Sciron! That was it. I knew it started with an S.

"Chiron?" Jason asked. "Like the centaur?"

The bandit rolled his eyes. " _Sky_ -ron, my friend. Son of Poseidon! Thief extraordinaire! All-around awesome guy! But that's not important. I'm not seeing any valuables!" He cried, as if this were excellent news. "I guess that means you want to die?"

"Wait," Hazel said. "We've got valuables. But if we give them up, how can we be sure you'll let us go?"

"Oh, they  _always_  as that," Scion said. "I promise you, on the River Styx, that as soon as you surrender what I want, I will  _not_  shoot you. I will send you right back down that cliff."

" _Buji ni?_ "

Making a promise on the Styx was a bold move for a bandit, but that just meant he was confident in his words and I listened more closely. He simply said he wouldn't  _shoot_  us. Sending us down the cliff - there were the steps that we'd come from, of course, but there was always the hard way. Sending us down the cliff could mean he planned to shove us off to let us die rather than shooting us.

"And  _who_  exactly is this one? What? Is that Chinese?"

"Japanese," Hazel corrected. "And he's our…collector. He has an eye for valuables. If there's anything on our ship that you'll want, he'll know exactly what it is."

Luckily Hazel was right to leave out that I was a thief myself, else Sciron might grow weary of me. She seemed to have noticed Sciron's wording of his promise, and it didn't reassure her.

"What if we fought you?" Jason asked. "You can't attack us and hold our ship hostage at the same time-"

"Jason!"

I saw it coming, but I barely had the reaction time necessary to go into speed-mode. Two bullets.

BANG! BANG!

I saw the trajectory of the one aimed at Jason first, rushing behind him to see the angle perfectly. It was picture perfect. Then, there was a second aimed back at the Argo II. I pulled out a scope that I'd designed, small that fit snugly on my eye as I activated it and enhanced my vision. I zoomed in on the ship, looking for the target of the bullet before seeing that it wasn't heading directly at anyone - but it was coming damn near close to Frank. There was no catching that bullet, but I pocketed my scope and watched as the bullet sent at Jason grazed his hair, a millimeter away from his actual skin. I then reached out and touched the bullet, focusing and pulling it under my control so that it would slow down with me when I exited speed-mode.

I pocketed the bullet - might be useful, having one of Sciron's own bullets to use against either him or some enemy in the future.

I returned to my former position and released speed-mode, the world returning to normal again. Smoke curled from the side of Jason's head. Just above his left ear, a groove cut through his hair like a racing stripe. One of Sciron's flintlocks was still pointed at Jason's face, the other pointed down, over the side of the cliff to the Argo II. Jason and Hazel took in what had just happened, their minds needed a moment to catch up.

Hazel choked from delayed shock "What did you do?"

"Oh, don't worry!" Sciron laughed. "If you could see that far - which you can't - you'd see a hole in the deck between the shoes of-"

"Frank," I finished.

"Frank?!" Hazel shrieked.

Sciron shrugged. "He is unharmed, I assure you. That was just a demonstration, however. I'm afraid it  _could_ have been much more serious."

He spun his flintlocks, the hammers resetting and the guns magically reloading.

Sciron waggled his eyebrows at Jason. "So! To answer your question: yes, I  _can_  attack you and hold your ship hostage at the same time. Celestial bronze ammunition. Quite deadly to demigods. You three would die first -  _bang, bang, bang_. Then I could take my time picking off your friends on that ship. Target practice is so much more fun with live targets running around screaming!"

Jason touched the new furrow that the bullet had plowed through his hair. For once, he didn't look very confident. If even Jason's resolve was beginning to falter, it was no surprise that Hazel was frozen, her ankles wobbling.

"A shame, really. I thought that the goddess would be the first to come and confront me. Look at her down there, just staring up, so cocky, when she isn't even brave enough to face me point-blank. Or maybe my informants were right, she's just too  _weak_  to dare face me."

I gritted my teeth and wanted to start screaming in English my thoughts about him, since Jason and Hazel seemed to be losing their resolve.

"Y-You're a son of Poseidon?" Hazel managed. "I would've thought Apollo, the way you shoot."

The smile lines deepened around his eyes. "Why, thank you! It's just from practice though. The giant turtle - that's due to my parentage. You can't go around taming giant turtles without being a son of Poseidon! I  _could_  overwhelm your ship with a tidal wave, of course, but it's terribly difficult to work - especially with my little sister on board with Dad's little gift. Not nearly as fun as ambushing and shooting people, in any case."

Hazel was trying to gather her thoughts - a very difficult task while staring down the smoking barrels of those flintlocks.

"Bandana?" I dared to ask, acting confused.

"Yes! What's the bandana for?" Hazel jumped.

"So no one recognizes me!" Sciron said like it was obvious.

"But you introduced yourself," Jason remembered. "You're Sciron."

The bandit's eyes widened. "How did you…? Oh, yes, I suppose I did." He lowered one flintlock and scratched the side of his head with the other. "Terribly sloppy of me. Sorry. I'm afraid I'm a little rusty. Back from the dead, and all that. Let me try again." He leveled his pistols. "Stand and deliver! I am an anonymous bandit, and you _do not_  need to know my name!"

"Theseus!" I remembered. The thought finally popped into my head. "He kill you!"

Sciron's shoulders slumped. "Now,  _why_  did you have to mention  _him?_  We were getting along so well!"

Jason frowned. "You know this guy's story?"

"Theseus met him on the road to Athens," Hazel remembered. "Sciron would kill his victims by, um…"

" _Anata wa kare no iyana ashiwoarau. Kare wa anata o kame no kuchi ni kikku!_ " I remembered.

"Theseus was  _such_  a cheater!" Sciron complained. "I don't want to talk about him. I'm back from the dead now. Gaea promised me I could stay on the coastline and rob all the demigods I wanted, and that's what I'm going to do! Now…where were we?"

"You were about to let us go," Hazel ventured.

"Hmm…no, I'm pretty sure that wasn't it. Ah, right! Money or your life. Where are your valuables? No valuables? Then I'll have to-"

"Wait!" Hazel interrupted. "We have our valuables."

Sciron pointed a flintlock at Jason's head. "Well, then, my dear, hop to it, or my next shot will cut off more than your friend's hair!"

"Kaze?"

I pulled out a pair of swords that I'd found in my sister's room, an enchanted shield that retracted to a cuff on one's wrist, and then a couple begs of shiny things that I was willing to give away. Most of it wasn't jewelry or the like, they were practical things, enchanted pins, weapons, just a little jewelry that was magical, and a couple weapons.

I made a substantial pile of items, much more than what could fit in my jacket pockets, so there was no hiding my magical hoodie pockets, but that was a small cost if we were going to be able to stop this guy and save the ship.

"Hazel?" I prodded.

Now for the real show. Hazel hardly needed to concentrate. She was so anxious, the ground rumbled beneath her and immediately yielded a bumper crop - precious metals popping to the surface as though the dirt was anxious to expel them. She found herself surrounded by a knee-high mound of treasure - Roman denarii, silver drachmas, ancient gold jewelry, glittering diamonds, topaz, and rubies - enough to fill several lawn bags.

Sciron laughed with delight. "How in the  _world_  did you do that?"

Hazel didn't answer. There were centuries' worth of hidden wealth from every empire that had ever claimed this land - Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and so many others. Those empires were gone, leaving only a barren coastline for Sciron the bandit.

"Just take the treasure," Hazel said. "Let us go."

Sciron chuckled. "Oh, but I did say  _all_  your valuables. I understand you're holding something very special on that ship…a certain ivory-and-gold statue about, say, forty feet tall?"

Hazel was frozen once more.

Jason stepped forward. Despite the gun pointed at his face, his eyes were as hard as sapphires. "The statue isn't negotiable."

"You're right, it's not!" Sciron agreed. "I must have it!"

"Gaea told you about it," Hazel guessed. "She ordered you to take it."

Sciron shrugged. "Maybe. But she told me I could keep it for myself. Hard to pass up that offer! I don't intend to die again, my friends. I intend to live a long life as a very wealthy man!"

"The statue won't do you any good," Hazel said. "Not if Gaea destroys the world."

Technically Gaea  _was_  the world, but semantics.

The muzzles of Sciron's pistols wavered. "Pardon?"

"Gaea is using you," Hazel continued. "If you take that statue, we won't be able to defeat her. She's planning on wiping all mortals and demigods off the face of the earth, letting her giants and monsters take over. So where will you spend your gold, Sciron? Assuming Gaea even lets you live?"

There was a moment of silence as they let that sink in. Being a bandit and all, Sciron  _should_  be familiar with the idea of double-crosses. He was silent for the count of ten.

Finally, his smile lines returned. "All right! I'm not unreasonable. Keep the statue."

Jason blinked. "We can go?"

"Just one more thing. I always demand a show of respect. Before I let my victims leave, I insist they wash my feet."

I mentally prepared myself as Sciron kicked off his leather boots, one after the other. His bare feet were the most disgusting things I'd ever seen, and I had seen some  _very_  disgusting things. They were puffy, wrinkled, and white as dough, as if they'd been soaking in formaldehyde for a few centuries. Tufts of brown hair sprouted from each misshapen toe. His jagged toenails were green and yellow, like a tortoise's shell.

I plugged my nose, but the smell leaked through. If the Underworld palace had a cafeteria for zombies, it would probably smell like Sciron's feet. I knew the legend about Sciron, of course, but that didn't make me any more prepared for this atrocity.

"So!" Sciron wriggled his disgusting toes. "Who wants the left, and who wants the right? The Japanese boy gets a pass…for now."

I couldn't tell if I was relieved or if I was disappointed that he wouldn't kill me and put me out of my misery so that I wouldn't have to spend another second in the presence of him and his feet.

Jason's face turned almost as white as those feet. "You've…got to be kidding."

"Not at all!" Sciron said. "Wash my feet, and we're done. I'll send you back down the cliff. I promise on the River Styx."

He made that promise so easily that alarm bells went off in my head again. That exact wording -  _I'll send you back down the cliff_. The hard way, that was obvious enough. Disorienting stench of his feet, and if anyone got close enough to  _wash_  those damn things, he wouldn't have to do more than kick someone and they'd be helpless.

"Could we have a moment?" Hazel asked the bandit.

Sciron's eyes narrowed. "What for?"

"Well, it's a big decision. Left foot, right foot. We need to discuss."

I could tell he was smiling under the mask.

"Of course. I'm so generous, you can have  _two_  minutes."

Hazel climbed out of her pile of treasure. She led Jason as far away as she dared - about fifty feet down the cliff, while I followed for the sake of not staying beside Sciron for longer than I had to. Hopefully this was out of earshot.

"Sciron kicks his victims off the cliff," I whispered.

Jason scowled. "What?"

"When you kneel down and wash his feet," Hazel agreed. "That's how he kills you. When you're off-balance, woozy from the smell of his feet, he'll kick you over the edge."

"You fall right into the mouth of his giant turtle," I finished.

Jason took a moment to digest that, so to speak. He glanced over the cliff where the turtle's massive shell glinted just under the water.

"So we have to fight," Jason declared.

"Sciron's too fast for us," Hazel said. "Even if Kaze's able to hold his own, he can't look out for both of us without straining himself. That's too big a risk to take. Once Sciron's serious…we don't know how much he's holding himself back, and I don't wanna take that risk."

"Then I'll be ready to fly. When he kicks me over, I'll float halfway down the cliff. Then when he kicks you, I'll catch you."

Hazel shook her head. "If he kicks you hard and fast enough, you'll be too dazed to fly. And even if you can, Sciron's got the eyes of a marksman. He'll watch you fall. If you hover, he'll just shoot you out of the air."

"Then…" Jason clenched his sword hilt. "I hope you have another idea?"

A few feet away, Gale the weasel appeared from the bushes. She gnashed her teeth and peered at Hazel as if to say, ' _Well, do you?_ '

Hazel took a few deep breaths, calming her nerves and preventing even more gold from rising. She remembered what Veon had told her when he'd been training her: ' _The dead see what they_ believe _they will see. So do the living. That is the secret to the Mist._ '

She closed her eyes and remembered all the things that Veon had tried to teacher.

' _Stop trying to make the impossible happen, Hazel. That's way too advanced for you at this stage. The key to the Mist is starting with reality and then clouding it over a bit. If you want to make the Mist work, you need to know what you want to see. You're looking at this rock and trying to turn it into a gem, right? But you still see it as a rock. You know what you_ want _it to look like, but you aren't convinced of it yet. You have to convince_ yourself _before you can convince anyone else._ '

It wasn't that easy, she had argued.

' _It's only hard if you_ believe _it's hard. Just relax and connect to the Mist, open your mind to the world and perspectives different from your own. It's like writing a story. You have to get into the minds of your characters in order to write them properly._   _Don't think of the Mist as some kind of thing in the air that you control with your thoughts - it's not like your power over gems, it's not an outside source. You have to become one with the Mist, let the Mist become one with you. Feel it in your bones, feel the chaotic swirling of magic in and around you, and once you really connect with it,_ truly _, then you'll have no problem bending it to your will. You can sense it, Hazel, but are you_ one _with it?_ '

How do you become one with something invisible? Something no different than simply the air itself?

' _You have to stop thinking so hard and simply trust your instincts. Control the Mist no differently than you would breathe - let it be an automatic part of you that you can take control of when you want, but even when you're not, you never_  really _disconnect with it, you never_  really _, stop. Just_ _believe in yourself, believe in the Mist, and believe that you can do this._ '

She understood what she had to do. She hated the idea worse than she hated that farting weasel, worse than she hated Sciron's feet.

"Unfortunately, yes," Hazel said finally. "We have to let Sciron win."

"What?" Jason demanded.

Hazel told them the plan.

* * *

"Finally!" Sciron cried. "That was  _much_  longer than two minutes!"

"Sorry," Jason said. "It was a bit decision…which foot."

Hazel stared at Sciron, trying to clear her mind and imagine the scene through Sciron's eyes - what he desired, what he expected.  _That_  was the key to using the Mist. She couldn't force someone to see the world her way. She couldn't make Sciron's reality appear  _less_  believable. But if she showed him what he  _wanted_  to see…well, she was a child of Pluto. She'd spent decades with the dead, listening to them yearn for past lives that were only half remembered, distorted by nostalgia.

I remembered a little about being dead too. It was painful, remembering the past with a broken soul. All of the other ghosts seemed to be so happy, but I knew they were deluded. I knew the truth. But I also learned that it was easier to pretend like I  _didn't_  remember, I learned how I could pretend that I was someone else, someone who was happy, someone who fooled themself into believing they were okay, that there was something out there for them.

The dead saw what they _believed_  they would see. So did the living.

Pluto was the god of the Underworld, the god of wealth. Maybe those two spheres of influence were more connected than any of them had realized. There wasn't much difference between longing and greed. I knew a thing or two about greed, I know what people wanted, and I knew the lengths that someone might go to to get those things. It was easy, being a thief, knowing what people desired most, and what you yourself desired as well.

Time for this thief to fool another.

Hazel summoned gold and diamond all the time, so why not summon another kind of treasure - a vision of the world people  _wanted_ to see? I saw her resting her hand on her jacket pocket, where Frank's magical firewood rested. She not only held his life in her hands, she was now carrying the lives of the entire crew.

Jason stepped forward, his hands open in surrender. "I'll go first, Sciron. I'll wash your left foot."

"Excellent choice!" Sciron wriggled his hairy, corpse-like toes. "I may have stepped on something with that foot. It felt a little squishy inside my boot. But I'm sure you'll clean it properly."

Jason's ears reddened. From the tension in his neck, I could tell that he was tempted to drop the charade and attack - one quick slash with his Imperial gold blade. But I knew that if he tried, he would fail. Even if I could save Jason from one attack, taking on Sciron with the two of them and the ship all held hostage at once would be troublesome. If Hazel's plan worked, we wouldn't need to risk confrontation though.

"Just one thing," Jason jumped in. "Why is Kaze voided from doing anything?"

Sciron rolled his eyes. "Jealous? Well, don't be. That one there, the boy who speaks no English, Asian, pretty fast - or so I've been told? Gaea wants him alive, along with his sister."

"Kaze won't do  _anything_  for her anymore. He's a member of our crew and he won't be fooled by lies anymore."

Sciron spun his flintlock with a bored expression. "Yes, yes, but she made a proposition and she wants an answer. I'm just the messenger. You know what they say. Don't shoot the messenger, or the messenger will shoot you."

"I'm…not sure that's how it goes."

"Well, I'd be happy to test that theory if you want to keep talking."

"Sciron," Hazel broke in. "Do you have water? Soap? How are we supposed to wash-?"

"Like this!"

Sciron spun his left flintlock. Suddenly it became a squirt bottle with a rag. He tossed it to Jason.

Jason squinted at the label. "You want me to wash your feet with  _glass_ _cleaner?_ "

"Of course not!" Sciron knit his eyebrows. "It says  _multi-surface_  cleaner. My feet definitely as ' _multi-surface_.' Besides, it's antibacterial. I need that. Believe me, water won't do the trick on  _these_  babies."

Sciron wiggled his toes, and more zombie café odor wafted across the cliffs.

Jason gagged. "Oh,  _gods_ , no…"

Sciron shrugged. "You can always choose what's in my other hand." He hefted his right flintlock.

"He'll do it," Hazel declared.

Jason glared at her, but Jason lost the staring contest.

"Fine," He muttered.

"Excellent! Now…" Sciron hopped to the nearest chunk of limestone that was the right size for a footstool. He faced the water and planted his foot, so he looked like some explorer who'd just claimed a new country. "I'll watch the horizon while you scrub my bunions. It'll be much more enjoyable."

"Yeah," Jason muttered. "I'll bet."

Jason knelt in front of the bandit, at the edge of the cliff, where he was an easy target. One kick, and he'd topple over. I put my hand on Hazel's shoulder and nodded confidently. She nodded back and concentrated. She imagined she was Sciron, the lord of bandits. She was looking down at a pathetic blond-haired kid who was no threat at all - just another defeated demigod about to become his victim. I had taught Hazel all I could about the mindset of a bandit in the short period of time that we had. She knew exactly how high and mighty Sciron had to feel, how cautious he was of his victory, and how she had to make him forget caution and let his pride take over.

In her mind, she saw what would happen. She summoned the Mist, calling it from the depths of the earth the way she did with gold or silver or rubies.

Jason squirted the cleaning fluid. His eyes watered. He wiped Sciron's big toe with his rag and turned aside to gag. Hazel could barely watch and she almost missed the moment of the kick.

Sciron slammed his foot into Jason's chest. Jason tumbled backward over the edge, his arms flailing, screaming as he fell as dramatically and realistically as possible. When he was about to hit the water, the turtle rose up and swallowed him in one bite (or so it appeared), then sank below the surface.

Alarm bells sounded on the Argo II. The crew scrambled on deck, manning the catapults. I could hear Piper's wailing all the way from the ship.

A moment later, it stopped.

The Argo II froze in shock and quieted down. I knew that she'd done it. She'd timed it perfectly. My sister was right, she used the powers of Chaos properly, and weaved an illusion to buy Hazel some time, convincing Sciron that he'd done the deed and boosting his confidence so that Hazel would have the best chance. Now, it all came down to her.

Hazel, meanwhile, had to focus harder than every before. She forced her mind to split into two parts - one intensely focus on her task, one playing the role Sciron needed to see.

She screamed in outrage. "What did you  _do?!_ "

"Oh, dear…" Sciron sounded sad, but I got the impression he was hiding a grin under his bandana. "That was an accident, I assure you."

"My friends will  _kill_  you now!"

"They can try. But in the meantime, I think you have time to wash my other foot! Believe me, dear. My turtle is full now. He doesn't want you too. You'll be quite safe - unless you refuse."

He leveled the flintlock pistol at her head.

She hesitated, letting him see her anguish. She couldn't agree too easily, or he wouldn't think she was beaten.

I shouted many obscenities at Sciron in Japanese, and whether he secretly understood me or not (considering he was reborn from being dead, I had to assume that he had a few extra skills up his sleeve from all the bandit-ing that he'd done in the past) I knew that I put on more than enough of a performance.

Hazel knew the plan, holding me back and using hand gestures and a soothing voice to try and communicate to me that she was afraid and didn't want me to aggravate him - still pretending that I didn't understand English. She spoke her words just loud enough for Sciron to hear, and his confidence only grew, seeing that Hazel had given up and that she needed to go along or else, seeing Sciron's ability and callous behavior.

She turned back to him. "Don't kick me," She said, half-sobbing.

His eyes twinkled. This was exactly what he expected. She was broken and helpless. Sciron, the son of Poseidon, had won again. I could barely believe this guy had the same father as Percy Jackson. Then again, Poseidon had a changeable personality - like the sea. Maybe his children reflected that. Percy was a child of Poseidon's better nature: powerful, but gentle and helpful, the kind of sea that sped ships safely to distant lands. Sciron was a child of Poseidon's  _other_  side - the kind of sea that battered relentlessly at the coastline until it crumbled away, or carried the innocents from shore and let them drown, or smashed ships and killed entire crews without mercy.

She snatched up the spray bottle Jason had dropped.

"Sciron," She growled. "Your feet are the  _least_  disgusting thing about you."

His green eyes hardened. "Just  _clean._ "

She knelt, trying to ignore the smell. She shuffled to one side, forcing Sciron to adjust his stance, but she imagined that the sea was still at her back. She held that vision in her mind as she shuffled sideways again. It wasn't an easy task to be sure. There was always that part of you that told you what was right, that kept track of your special awareness and knew where you were, but Hazel concentrated and fooled even herself into believing that no matter how far she turned, the sea was still at her back - and Sciron, in turn, was fooled as well.

Just in case, I started muttering things about Sciron, hissing threats at him, and he pointed his flintlock at Hazel, reminding me that I couldn't do anything without risking her too. He still thought he was faster than me, cocky bastard.

Finally he turned back to Hazel. "Just get on with it!"

I saw Hazel suppressing a smile. She'd managed to turn Sciron one hundred eighty degrees, but he still saw the water in front of him, the rolling countryside at his back. She focused on keeping the illusion up, turning her task to cleaning. She told herself that this was nothing. She'd cleaned the unicorn stables at Camp Jupiter. She'd filled and dug latrines for the legion. Still, it was hard not to retch when she looked at Sciron's toes.

When the kick came, she flew backwards, but she didn't go far. She landed on her butt in the grass a few yards away.

Sciron stared at her. "But…"

Suddenly the world shifted. The illusion melted, leaving Sciron totally confused. The sea was at  _his_  back. He'd only succeeded in kicking Hazel away from the ledge. It was like when you closed your eyes and walked in a straight line, convinced you were going straight, but when you opened your eyes again, you'd curved in your path or even made loops. It was disorienting, confusing, and just the opportunity we needed.

Sciron lowered his flintlock. "How-?"

I sped forward and snatched the gun from Sciron in his distraction and confusion, holding the flintlock up and ready to fire. " _Stahnd and delivher._ "

I pulled the trigger, holding the hammer down so that I released every bullet in the barrel while in speed-mode before rushing over and body-slamming the bandit over the cliff.

Sciron screamed as he fell, flailing but without his pistols for probably the first time in a while, if not forever. I looked down to see as Sciron fell right into the turtle's mouth, snapping Sciron out of thin air.

I blinked. "Well then."

It was then that I saw the turtle roar in confusion. Suddenly, its master was gone. Had the person who fell been his master? It just realized that it was free now. And it was afraid, angry, without orders for what had to be a while, and without Sciron, its purpose became unclear. It wanted a purpose again. I knew all too well how that felt.

The turtle rammed itself into the cliff and Hazel and I were knocked off our feet. I looked over to Hazel to see if she was all right, but the Mist was now swirling around her as she laid on the ground. It became hard to see her, like a mirage from heat in the desert or just on a hot day. I couldn't stare at her, I couldn't see her within the haze of magic that was almost thick enough to burn should I so much as look at her.

"Hazel?! Hazel!"

I heard the whispers of a familiar yet not-so familiar voice within the swirling tides of magic, the voice breaking in and out.

" _The dead will not welcome you…Pasiphaë intends to rebuild her domain, which will endanger_ all _demigods. Unless you stop her at the House of Hades_ _…the Doors of Death are at the lowest level of the Necromanteion. You must make_ _Pasiphaë see what she wants to see_ _…her maze_ _…perhaps I was never here._ "

* * *

First Person: Lucy

"But Vrontí and I might be able to take care of the turtle."

"How?" Emily asked.

"I still have slight access to the Primordial powers. If I can summon something, I might be able to take down the monster with attacks that bypass defense. If Vrontí can get me in close enough, then I can summon a beast to fight the turtle and even turn its carcass to dust so that we can escape this place. Then again, maybe having it there will ward off other sea creatures while we make repairs to the ship."

When the plan began, I started to worry that I'd be eating my words soon enough.

Hazel, Jason, and Kaze made their way up the cliff to face the bandit, while I went over the plan in my head. Summon one of my favorite monsters, no biggie. Great. Kaze returned for a few minutes to explain the plan to the others, how Jason would need to pretend to fall and give Hazel the opportunity to trick Sciron into thinking he'd won. Piper was the most reluctant to follow the plan, but I offered a guaranteed way to help Jason survive and she hesitantly agreed.

" _You_ do _know that once this is all over, you'll be plunged into the dream world and we'll be put out of commission,_ " Zyanya reminded me. " _You sure you don't just wanna let the crew make repairs and fly over the turtle? It shouldn't be able to make its way in here - it's not stupid. Once Sciron is gone, it will simply return from whence it came before he tamed it._ "

"I  _need_  to learn what it means to pass those trials," I declared. "Besides, you can see it, can't you? I know you're not  _that_  weak. The turtle is angry at Sciron. It's freedom has been taken unwillingly, and yet still its emotions remain jumbled beyond repair. It wants a purpose too, so that's why Sciron found a crack in its mental defenses. It likes free will, but it also likes having a source of food for very little effort. In that sense, there's going to be havoc should Sciron die without the turtle getting its meal. Overall, I'm not going to take the risk that the thing could cause us any amount of trouble."

She shrugged. " _Point taken._ "

"You seemed more worried than  _I_  am about this."

" _I want desperately to see into your heart, but at the same time, I'm scared of what I'll see. My emotions are as messed up as that turtle's. What do I want? What do I need? What's best for me? What's best for everyone else? There are things that pain me greatly, and having you as a host is a dangerous game._ "

I nodded. "I understand."

" _You may or may not live this time. There will be no more in an out because Tartarus is no longer here to interfere. You realize that, right?_ "

I nodded. "I can't run from the problem."

She walked over and put her hand to my chest, right over where the gem hanging from my necklace was placed. " _Good luck, Rei Chikara._ "

Her form turned to a swirl of black mist that entered the gem, and I felt like I'd taken a breath of fresh air. Being human was a heavy weight compared to being one with a god. Everything felt harder, everything took more effort and your energy was expended faster in comparison. At the same time, being merged with a god felt like you were  _too_  light, that you might float away any second and lose control. If you let the god take full control, they could do anything with your body, and given enough time, your soul might simply burn away from the inside out. Being one with a Primordial held the highest risk - being one with Chaos itself? That was why things were so tricky.

But I had a few minutes - I had one burst of energy to use before I went to the dreamscape to either tame Chaos or die trying. Better make it count.

I watched the encounter up on the cliff from the Argo II - my vision already slightly enhanced from my Apollo blood (archers needed to have good depth perception and vision) and it was enhanced to crazy levels in my godly state. Chaos certainly felt different than Order, that was for sure. But at the same time, there was a point where power was power, and I didn't have the time to be focusing on one or the other. I was as powerful as I was going to get right now and I already felt like I was struggling to hold things together. I could only imagine the force I'd be enduring when Order/Chaos was at their maximum power within me.

I saw my cue and drew my bow, nocking three arrows at once and taking aim. It felt so good to have the actual strength to pull the string of the bow back properly. You couldn't understand how frustrating it was for someone who'd fired a bow all her life to suddenly be so weak that your arms strained upon drawing the bowstring. It wasn't as though I had taken a long time off and was simply out of shape - it was literally that one instant I could and then another I couldn't, barely a day between the two feelings.

I let the three arrows fly towards the base of the cliff where Hazel, Jason, and Kaze were with Sciron - right where the giant turtle lay waiting beneath the water below, and right where Jason went falling as he was kicked.

The crew went into overdrive, playing the part they had been instructed to almost too well. They still doubted me. But Piper I understood. She was the loudest, her doubts overwhelming her as for the split second of his fall, she felt the terror of his death.

"Powers of Chaos, bend to my will!"

My eyes flashed red, a dome of energy shot out in all directions from me, and in less than a millisecond, the entire area was surrounded by a sphere of Chaos's power. Inside, everything was frozen. Time itself had ceased to be within the area. Only I could move.

I jumped from the ship, the entire dome under my control, so I flew over to the turtle with simply my jump alone, no flying powers involved. Jason was a few inches inside the turtle's mouth, the panic on his face evident as he just realized that maybe something had gone wrong. Were time to have continued moving, the turtle would've already been closing its mouth. I had timed it perfectly. Even with Sciron's eyes, time manipulation would always be better - not  _faster_ , as speed no longer became a factor.

I grabbed Jason, his body shifting in slow motion as I released the chaotic power around him just slightly so that I could move him. I then willed my way back over to the ship, lying Jason down on the deck so that his momentum would simply drop him lightly. To him, it would seem like teleportation. To Sciron, he was already going down the turtle's gullet.

I released the dome, the energy returning within me so that time instant began once more, Jason grunting as he hit the deck instead of the turtle with his heart still racing at how close a call it had been. The crew was silenced in their relief, Piper practically suffocated him with a hug demanding that he never scare her like that again, and Nico staying clear-headed - getting over his shock quicker than anyone else - and shoving Jason and Piper below deck so that Sciron didn't accidentally see that Jason had survived.

It wasn't long before another figure went flying off the edge of the cliff, but this time it was accompanied by the light popping of a gun and screaming that definitely didn't belong to Hazel - considering Kaze wasn't fated to be kicked off the cliff, apparently. When the turtle ate its next meal, suddenly it realized who it had really eaten.

"I shall handle this. Continue repairs."

I hopped aboard Vrontí - Thunder - and urged him forward. We went flying across the water towards the raging beast.

"Now!"

Thunder threw me off as I landed on the water, the liquid acting as a solid when I connected it with my power. The aura of dark energy around me began to darken as my eyes glowed red again.

"Feel my pain!"

I held my hand up and a small portal of black and red energy appeared above me in the air.

"Come, Anima!"

I slammed my hand down on the water I stood on, the portal energy spreading beneath me into a much bigger circle. From the portal above, an anchor suddenly dropped down and into the lower portal, slowing in its descent with a loud clang of chains before it froze, hooking onto something, and then reversing its path. Chains broke free from four places around me to form a square that led to the restrained being in the middle that rose from the depths.

With a deep growl, Anima rose from the portal so that her top half was revealed, being pulled free from the darkness beneath her simply by the anchor hooked at her neck that released her once she had come up. She was heavily restrained, her body chained up inside a cocoon, her wrists wrapped by bandages to be held in place. Her skin was thin and her ribcage could be seen, resembling a mummy, with tattoos across her arms and her eyes bandaged with a single one seen through a hold, bleeding in pain. Her head resembled more monster than human, her mouth with fangs extending outwards from both top and bottom, with two purple arm wrapped around her neck to seem like she was being choked - each of the hands holding the ends of a necklace that showed a ghostly image of the woman that had suffered under the tides of fate and drowned to become the aeon known as Anima.

"Pain!"

Anima's arms tensed, her bony fingers wrapping into fists as her head fell back. Her one revealed bleeding eye began gathering energy so intense that it could be felt within the air. Her head shot forward as though she was suffering from whiplash and the turtle screeched in pain, its shell suffering an explosion of the energy Anima had thrown at it simply with her eye.

The turtle roared in defiance and rammed itself into Anima, causing her to flinch and pull into a defensive stance.

"Oblivion!"

A midnight purple aura that resembled poison surrounded the giant turtle, causing it to sink - but not beneath the water, into a portal to another plain of existence where Anima's second half resided. The world shifted from behind Anima to a crimson-red dimension that swallowed us all, Anima's lower half being revealed. If the original Anima was monstrous, this one was straight up hellish. This horned demon hung upside down from Anima's upper half, pulling herself up to reveal a more nightmarish version of Anima, chained just as heavily as the first but without the bandages, with long silvery strands of hair falling from her head and a face that resembled a creature more than a human.

Anima 2.0 looked down at her two arms, chained at the wrists, and then pulled her hands apart. Despite her mummified state and thin arms, she snapped the chains binding her within seconds. With a loud roar, her two hands formed fists that began charging up energy before she unleashed a torrent of attacks, punching with blinding speed, an explosion accompanying each hit with a glyph of destruction. With one final battle cry, the second anima seemed to tear apart the dimension itself with her wail, everything ending in an explosion with the destruction glyph Anima was famous for, and then suddenly we were returned to the real world, the giant turtle falling from the sky to smash into the water with one final hit surrounded by the aura of darkness.

In an instant, the turtle roared and then fell limp, its body shimmering as I waved my hand and caused it to dissolve into Pyreflies.

Anima roared in triumph before fading away, chains and all.

I felt my power fading and knew that once I fell asleep, I would be going to the trials. I had Vrontí take me back to the ship. I'm not sure if we made it, because I had already passed out and saw blackness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations (BTW Japanese is hard to translate to English. I've put the kanji and romaji together, but the kanji is recommended if you want to Google Translate these because you don't trust me)
> 
> 'Shinchōna' (慎重.) - Careful
> 
> 'Buji ni?' (無事に?) - Safely?
> 
> 'Anata wa kare no iyana ashiwoarau. Kare wa anata o kame no kuchi ni kikku!' (あなた わ かれ の いやな あしをあらう. 彼はあなたをカメの口にキック!) - You wash his disgusting feet. He kicks you to the turtle's mouth!
> 
> I don't own Final Fantasy 10 or the concept behind Anima, but damn is she awesome in that game. Also, something entirely coincidental, but while I was looking up a video to describe Anima's attacks better, the first one I found was Anima facing an Adamantoise (basically a giant turtle with a rock-hard shell) Inside Sin - in a battlefield, standing on the ground that looks like water but is actually solid enough for them to stand on (literally I made Lucy summon Anima while standing on the water as though it were solid because of her powers). It was not my intention to basically replicate that video, I assure you, but what a coincidence that was!


	21. Vengence is Nigh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look, I've given you a long chapter in return for my long absence. Forgiven?
> 
> I'm so sorry, but I'm so busy with school and I'm a props assistant in a play, and I'm so tired and I've got like three tests next week, and oh my gosh, I'm exhausted.
> 
> I know I don't have a regular update schedule and I'm so sorry. I'm working on so many stories and one of them is completely pre-made so those chapters will most likely come out on schedule, but I'm trying.
> 
> If anyone's out there reading this, review and tell me! Reviews tend to help chapters come out faster. Go figure. My priorities really depend on how I'm feeling, and I really want to get going on this story but we've reached a pretty enraging and boring part. It's got Octavian, man. Why would I wanna write about him?
> 
> But I do wanna get to the end of this book to get to the next, and I've still got my plans in mind, but my inspiration is going away, so I gotta get things out while they're still fresh (somewhat) in my mind.
> 
> For now, enjoy!
> 
> :)

First Person: Zytaveon

Okay, so this is how things went.

Percy seemed content with the idea of battle, despite the odds of four against several dozen arai. Fighting was pretty straightforward, after all. Wandering through the darkness, waiting to be attacked, now that was just annoying, like the plot of a movie just being dragged out. So much anticipation.

We had all fought together and separately, and we had a Titan on our side, so what could possibly go wrong? (Can you just  _feel_  the sarcasm?)

"Back off."

Percy jabbed Riptide at the nearest shriveled hag, but she only sneered.

" _We are the arai,_ " Said that weird-voice over, like the entire forest was speaking. " _You cannot destroy us._ "

Annabeth pressed against his shoulder. "Don't touch them," She warned. "They're the spirits of curses."

"Bob doesn't like curses," Bob decided.

The skeleton kitten Small Bob disappeared inside his coveralls. Smart cat.

The Titan swept his broom in a wide arc, forcing the spirits back, but they came in again like the tide.

" _We serve the bitter and the defeated,_ " Said the arai. " _We serve the slain who prayed for vengeance with their final breath. We have many curses to share with you._ "

The firewater in my stomach started crawling up my throat. I wasn't sure if I would even be able to swing my sword, every muscle was tense and on edge, and I felt my entire body and soul afraid of the power that now had a hold over me.

' _Use my power to save your friends. It would be mere child's play to destroy them all. Just give in, say yes._ '

I knew that there was no doubt giving in to save Percy and Annabeth, even Bob, would be a one way ticket to permanent possession. I had to do this on my own. But that was a lot easier said than done when you were practically incapacitated by fear. Normally I wouldn't have been so scared, but I didn't know what to think about anymore, I couldn't control my feelings as they basically ran away from me.

"I appreciate the offer," Percy said. "But my mom told me not to accept curses from strangers."

The nearest demon lunged. Her claws extended like bony switchblades. Percy cut her in two, but as soon as she vaporized, the side of his chest flared with pain. He stumbled back, clamping his hand to his rib cage. His fingers came away wet and red.

"Percy, you're bleeding!" Annabeth cried, which was kind of obvious at that point. "Oh, gods, on  _both_  sides!"

It was true. The left and right hems of his tattered shirt were sticky with blood, as if a javelin or sword had run him through. Or an arrow…

Percy nearly fell over from queasiness alone. Vengeance. A curse from the slain. Two years ago, a fight with a monstrous ranger who could only be killed if each of his three bodies was cut through simultaneously.

"Geryon," Percy choked. "This is how I killed him…"

The spirits bared their fangs. More arai leaped from the black trees, flapping their leathery wings. I was already jumpy enough, actually falling over as I swatted one away with the flat of my blade. Yeah, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get back on my feet again, my arms and legs unable to muster the strength to fight gravity.

" _Yes,_ " The arai agreed. " _Feel the pain you inflicted upon Geryon. So many curses have been leveled at you, Percy Jackson. Which will you die from? Choose, of we will rip you apart!_ "

Somehow, Percy stayed on his feet even after being run through - which didn't exactly make me look any better considering I'd managed to swat an arai to the side and fell over while Percy sliced one and managed to stay standing with that arrow wound. The blood stopped spreading, but he still looked like he had a hot metal curtain rod sticking through his ribs, his sword arm drooping from being heavy and weak.

"I don't understand," Percy muttered.

Bob's voice seemed to echo from the end of a long tunnel. "If you kill one, it gives you a curse."

"But if we  _don't_  kill them…" Annabeth began.

"They'll kill us anyway," Percy guessed.

"That's bad," I guessed, my voice shaking.

" _Choose!_ " The arai cried. " _Will you be crushed like Kampê? Or disintegrated like the young telkhines you slaughtered under Mount St. Helens? You have spread so much death and suffering, Percy Jackson. Let us repay you!_ "

The winged hags pressed in, their breath sour, their eyes burning with hatred. They looked like Furies, but these were definitely worse. At least the three Furies were under the control of Hades and had been redubbed the Eumenides after that whole Orestes thing. These things were wild, and they just kept multiplying. If they really embodied the dying curses of every enemy each of us had every destroyed…we were in serious trouble. We'd faced a  _lot_  of enemies.

One of the demons lunged at Annabeth. Instinctively, she dodged. She brought her rock down on the old lady's head and broke her into dust. It wasn't like Annabeth had much of a choice, not to mention that retaliating after dodging was simply her natural muscle memory, but instantly Annabeth dropped her rock and cried in alarm.

"I can't see!" She screamed in panic, touching her face, looking around wildly.

Her eyes were pure white.

Percy ran to her side as the arai cackled. " _Polyphemus cursed you when you tricked him with your invisibility in the Sea of Monsters. You called yourself Nobody. He could not see you. Now you will not see_ your _attackers._ "

Well, at least that was a considerably tame curse. I'd known that becoming too reliant on my sight would one day become a dangerous disadvantage, so I went through a period of life where I practiced fighting with my eyes closed, purposefully blinding myself in a controlled environment to become better at using my hearing and instincts, along with my shadow abilities (Not to mention I practiced every night that I didn't want to really wake myself up but I had to go to the bathroom so I basically sleep walked).

"I've got you," Percy promised.

He put his arm around Annabeth, but as the arai advanced, I couldn't see how he could protect any of us. I leaned on my sword, took a deep breath and held it as I pushed myself to my feet with all the strength I could muster.

A dozen demons leaped from every direction, but Bob yelled, "SWEEP!"

His broom whooshed over our heads. The entire arai offensive line toppled backward like bowling pins. More surged forward. Bob whacked one over the head and speared another, blasting them to dust. The others backed away. I looked over to Bob, waiting for the Titan to be laid low with some terrible curse, but Bob seemed fine - a massive silvery bodyguard keeping death at bay with the world's most terrifying cleaning implement.

"Bob, you okay?" Percy asked. "No curses?"

"No curses for Bob!" Bob agreed.

The arai snarled and circled, eying the broom. " _The Titan is already cursed. Why should we torture him further? You, Percy Jackson, have already destroyed his memory._ "

Bob's spearhead dipped.

"Bob, don't listen to them," Annabeth said desperately. "They're evil!"

Time seemed to slow. I wondered if the spirit of Kronos was somewhere nearby, swirling in the darkness, enjoying this moment so much that he wanted it to last forever.

Bob turned, his wild white hair looking like an exploded halo. "My memory…it was you?"

" _Curse him, Titan!_ " The arai urged, their red eyes gleaming. " _Add to our numbers!_ "

"Bob, don't, they didn't mean any harm…" I wheezed.

It was even getting hard to breathe now, and all I was doing was standing still, leaning on my sword.

"Bob, it's a long story," Percy said. "I didn't want you to be my enemy. I tried to make you a friend."

" _By stealing your life,_ " The arai corrected. " _Leaving you in the palace of Hades to scrub floors!_ "

Annabeth gripped Percy's hand. "Which way?" She whispered. "If we have to run?"

I grimly understood. If Bob wouldn't protect us, our only chance was to run - but that wasn't any chance at all.

"Bob, listen," Percy tried again. "The arai want you to get angry. They spawn from bitter thoughts. Don't give them what they want. We  _are_  your friends."

Even as he said it, I had trouble believing it. He'd left Bob in the Underworld and hadn't given him a second thought since. What made them friends? The fact that Percy needed him now? Percy always hated it when the gods used him for their errands. Now Percy was treating Bob the same way.

" _You see his face?_ " The arai growled. " _The boy cannot even convince himself. Did he visit you, after he stole your memory?_ "

"No," Bob murmured. His lower lip quivered. "The other ones did."

Percy's face fell as his thoughts moved sluggishly. "The other ones?"

"Zyta, Cee-Cee…and Nico." Bob scowled at Percy, his eyes full of hurt. "Nico visited. Told me about Percy. Said Percy was good. Said he was a friend.  _That_  is why Bob helped."

"But…"

Percy's voice disintegrated like someone ad hit it with a Celestial bronze blade. He'd never felt so low and dishonorable, so unworthy of having a friend.

The arai attacked, and this time, Bob did not stop them.

I swung my sword in one desperate attempt to give Percy and Annabeth a head start, slicing through as many arai as I could. Since they were all lining up to swarm the two of them, I got more than one at least, maybe five at most.

All I knew after that, was that everything started burning. I knew what was happening and muttered a "Saw this coming…"

I stayed conscious long enough to see my fingers turning to dust and the rest of me destabilizing and turning to ash. I'd turned many monsters into ash to defeat them over time back when I believed it was the only power that I had, and even once I'd learned my new abilities. I now felt the burning pain that came before death as my vision disintegrated along with the rest of me.

I wasn't sure if I screamed, I'm not sure if Percy or Annabeth were shouting my name, and I'm not sure if I heard a disappointed humming of a Primordial as though he was a parent scolding his child.

And I'm not sure when it was that I woke up at Camp Half-Blood.

* * *

First Person: Der Meister von Allem

Who am I? I'm the most awesome person you're ever going to meet. Duh.

I searched through the spirit layers of the Underworld, looking down upon the foggy image of Tartarus. Going there personally wasn't an easy task, even for me, but looking around wasn't too big of a stretch. I located a big surge of Primordial energy that got my attention, and finally I found the demigods and the chosen one - well,  _one_  of the chosen ones, there were technically two. But only one was in Tartarus right now. Then again, for a moment I felt both at once, and for a moment things started looking better. Then it got back to normal, which is to say, bad.

"Come on, Urie."

He twisted his mechanical Celestial gold (yes, my own invention of Celestial bronze and Imperial gold) lance as it clicked and whirred. The lance had been upgraded many times and would most likely be upgraded many times in the future. The weapon expanded in many stages, from basic javelin to pure on monstrous dragoon level of badass-ery.

"Coming, coming," He promised, playing with the new upgrades like the child that he was.

I sighed. "Hurry up or I'll never upgrade your lance again. Worse, I'll  _downgrade_  it."

He gasped. "You wouldn't  _dare!_ "

"Shift. We've got a situation."

I jumped down through the Veil and down to Tartarus. The clock was ticking now, I had limited time to help them.

Percy Jackson was running with Annabeth Chase, slicing through the arai to clear a path while the Titan stayed with the disintegrating boy. There was nothing to be done about him at the moment, but the arai were no longer focused on either of them, so I went after Percy and Annabeth first. Percy probably brought down a dozen curses on himself, and though they didn't feel them right away, he kept running, each step becoming more and more painful. He wove between the trees, leading Annabeth at a full sprint despite her blindness.

The arai were right at their heels, hissing angrily with the scuttle of clawed feet and the beating of their leathery wings telling Percy their close proximity. He slashed at one of the black trees they ran past, causing it to topple and crush several dozen arai as they were smashed flat.

' _If a tree falls in the forest and crushes a cursing demon, does the tree get cursed?_ '

A very interesting query.

Percy continued slashing tree trunks. Though it bought him a few seconds, it didn't buy them enough.

Percy stopped them just in time to stop them from running straight off a cliff.

"What?!" Annabeth cried. "What is it?"

"Cliff," Percy gasped. "Big cliff."

"Which way, then?"

Percy looked down the cliff but knew that it wasn't an option. It could be ten feet or a thousand. There was no telling what was at the bottom. They could jump and hope for the best, but he doubted 'the best' ever happened in Tartarus.

So two options: right or left, following the edge.

He was about to choose randomly when a winged demon descended in front of him, hovering over the void on her bat wings, just out of sword reach.

" _Did you have a nice walk?_ " Asked the collective voice, echoing all around them.

Percy turned. The arai poured out of the woods, making a crescent around them. One grabbed Annabeth's arm. Annabeth wailed in rage, jugo-flipping the monster an dropping on its neck, putting her whole body weight into an elbow strike that would've made any pro wrestler proud. The demon dissolved, but when Annabeth got to her feet, she looked stunned and afraid as well as blind.

"Percy?!" She called, panic creeping into her voice.

"I'm right here," He said, confused.

He tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but she wasn't standing where he thought. He tried again, only to find she was several feet farther away. It was like trying to grab something in a tank of water, with the light shifting the image away.

"Percy!" Annabeth's voice cracked. "Why did you leave me?!"

"I didn't!" He turned on the arai, his arms shaking with anger. "What did you do to her?!"

" _We did nothing,_ " The demons said. " _Your beloved has unleashed a special curse - a bitter thought from someone you abandoned. You punished an innocent soul by leaving her in her solitude. Now her most hateful wish has come to pass: Annabeth feels her despair. She, too, will perish alone and abandoned._ "

"Percy?"

Annabeth spread her arms, trying to find him. The arai backed up, letting her stumble blindly through their ranks.

"Who did I abandon?" Percy demanded. "I never-"

Suddenly, he stopped, a wave of dread washing over him.  _An innocent soul. Alone and abandoned_. He remembered an island, a cave lit with soft glowing crystals, a dinner table on the beach tended by invisible air spirits.

"She wouldn't," He mumbled. "She'd never curse me…"

He stared blankly in shock. The eyes of the demons blurred together like their voices. Percy's sides throbbed, the pain in his chest became worse, as if someone were slowly twisting a dagger.

Annabeth wandered among the demons, desperately calling his name. Percy longed to run to her, but he knew the arai wouldn't allow it. The only reason they hadn't killed her yet was that they were enjoying her misery.

Percy clenched his jaw, his grip on his sword tightening. Suddenly, the effect of killing the curses no longer scared him. He didn't care how many curses he suffered. He had to keep these leathery old hags focused on him and protect Annabeth as long as he could.

He yelled in fury and attacked him all.

I pulled myself from the Veil and put my hand on Annabeth's shoulder, managing to make contact despite her curse. A terrible curse, this one. There was an infinite amount of pain to be gained from the wounds inflicted upon your enemies, but to be lost, alone, blind, abandoned, unable to be reached by any…that kind of curse could drive one mad even should they be saved from perishing. To die like this was better than to live like this.

I sent a wave of energy through Annabeth and her curses suddenly started fading. Only two arai curses, easy to reverse. With a gasp, her eyesight returned and she gathered her bearings.

"What-?"

"Shh. I will help you through this battle, but you must follow my instructions. Else Percy Jackson shall be beyond my aid."

Annabeth noticed Percy, hacking and slashing and smashing every arai that came close. Riptide cut through the arai as though they were made of powdered sugar. One panicked and ran face-first into a tree. Another screeched and tried to fly away, but Percy sliced off her wings and sent her spiraling into the chasm.

Percy endured curses ranging from painful - a stabbing in the gut, a burning sensation like he was being blasted by a blowtorch - to subtle - a chill in the blood, a uncontrollable tic in his right eye (who curses you with their dying breath an says: ' _I hope your eye twitches!_ '?)

Percy was slowing down, bit by bit, and the arai were endless - for every one he cut down, six more seemed to appear - and Annabeth began to realize the number of curses he was taking for her.

"How?" She whispered. "What do I do? Just tell me and help him."

"I will make sure the arai will not be able to tell you are healed. You must play the part, keep their attention away from you while I handle them. We must act quickly, before-"

Percy sliced at a demon that had sunk his teeth into his thigh while he hazily shuffled towards Annabeth, who all believed was blinded while I was invisible, only peaking out from the Veil to Annabeth.

"Go, now!" I hissed.

Annabeth nearly froze in panic, before putting her arms out and screaming Percy's name, her panic and tears real not because she was lost and cursed, but because she saw what was really happening to Percy. She wanted to run to him, even pretend to be wandering his way, but forced herself to start wandering through the ranks of the arai as they parted for her.

Percy came her way, but when he sliced at the demon that had bitten his leg, he immediately fell to his knees. He gagged and struggled to breathe, doubling over, shuddering, retching, as a dozen fiery snakes seemed to work their way down his esophagus.

" _You have chosen,_ " Said the voice of the arai. " _The curse of Phineas…an excellent painful death._ "

Percy choked as he tried to speak. Phineas the seer had drunk a vial of deadly gorgon's blood. After Percy's victory, Gaea had warned him: ' _Do not press your luck. When your death comes, I promise it will be much more painful than gorgon's blood._ ' Did this count? Technically he was dying from gorgon's blood itself, but there were also dozens upon dozens of curses layered atop. He clutched his sword as his knuckles started to steam and white smoke curled off his forearms.

But Percy continued fighting. He wouldn't die here.

If he died, the arai would go after Annabeth next.

I walked through the ranks of the arai and put my hand on Percy's shoulder, trying to sustain him. "That's it, keep fighting. Come on, Urie, hurry up…"

The arai clustered around him, snickering and hissing.

" _His head will erupt first_ ," The voice speculated. " _No,_ " The voice answered itself from another direction. " _He will combust all at once._ "

"Bob…" Percy croaked. "I need you."

Percy didn't even believe himself as he released his hopeless plea. He raised his eyes, beginning to see through the Veil as he began to die. The sky boiled and the ground blistered. What he had seen of Tartarus before was only a watered-down version of its true horrors - only what his demigod brain could handle. The worst of it was hidden, the same way the Mist veiled monsters from mortal sight. Now, as Percy died, he began to see the truth. The air was the breath of Tartarus. All these monsters were just blood cells circulating through his body. Everything Percy saw was a dream in the mind of the dark god of the pit.

"You see me, kid?" I demanded. "Your fate within this place is beyond my sight, but this is  _not_  where you fall. It _can't_  be. Remember Nico? Strong kid. He's your friend, right? He saw this side of Tartarus because of his birth, he never had a Veil to hide from him these horrors. He's alive right now, circumstances aside. This nightmare is mind-shattering, but you can fight it just like him."

Nico…one of the many people Percy hadn't treated well enough. Lu and Veon might've talked to Bob before, been his friend just like Nico, but it was Nico that had mentioned Percy - it was only because of him that they had made it this far through Tartarus.

"Percy? Percy! Perseus Jackson!"

" _You see the horror of the pit?_ " The arai said soothingly. " _Give up, Percy Jackson. Isn't death better than enduring this place?_ "

"I'm sorry," Percy murmured.

" _He apologizes!_ " The arai shrieked with delight. " _He regrets his failed life, his crimes against the children of Tartarus!_ "

"No," Percy said. "I'm sorry, Bob. I should've been honest with you. Please…forgive me. Protect Annabeth."

He didn't expect Bob to hear him or care, but it felt right to clear his conscience. Percy was doing what most with such pure souls did when facing death. He couldn't blame anyone else for his troubles. Not the gods, not Bob, he couldn't even blame Calypso, the girl he'd left alone on that island. Maybe she'd turned bitter and cursed Percy's girlfriend out of despair. Still…Percy should have followed up with Calypso, made sure the gods sprang her from her exile on Ogygia like they'd promised. He hadn't treated her any better than he'd treated Bob. He hadn't even thought much about her, though her moonlace plant still bloomed in his mom's window box.

Percy had made mistakes, he regretted many things, but at death, there was a point where a hero had nothing left to lose. That was when their true colors were revealed, and it never got old for me.

Percy used all his remaining effort to get to his feet. Steam rose from his whole body, his legs shook, and his insides churned like a volcano, but he would go out fighting.

"Highwind!"

Urie came flying out of the sky, slamming his spear down at the center of the ring of arai beside Percy, knocking the demigod off his feet, but otherwise he was unharmed. By Urie anyway.

The arai? Not so much.

He wiped all of them out in one big explosion from his lance slamming into the ground with both his strength as well as the upgrades I'd made.

"Took you long enough," I called.

"Sorry," He said. "I was handling the other guys." He flipped his lance into a battle-ready position. "Arai. Stupid curses."

I drew my metal whipblade, made from Celestial gold as well, as the arai began to round up again around the two of us and the fallen Percy. "Let's be quick about this." I flicked my whip with a snap in challenge. "Come and get it!"

Urie and I went wide, each taking half of the creatures. We used wide attacks to turn the monsters to dust, unaffected by the curses thanks to our blessings.

I was faster and more agile with my attacks, my whip was solid when I needed it to be, but able to extend for longer range or shrink to become a into a sword - even a shotgun should I require it. I used my whip to slice off limbs from the arai before shrinking my whip into a sword and finishing them off. My primary weapon was a whip, so I used it to disarm any arai within a certain radius before destroying them all as a preferred fighting style.

Urie, meanwhile, was a brute-force fighter, slower with his lance but certainly not weaker. With each swing of his lance, he destroyed the arai with ease, no disarming needed. He sometimes slammed his lance into the ground, creating a shockwave that annihilated any arai too close and dazed others depending on the strength he put into his hits.

The arai were great in numbers, one of their strongest techniques that resulted in an inevitable death by countless curses should one try to challenge their kind, but Urie and I were unaffected and therefore cleaned house.

" _I summon the power of the Tonberry!_ "

With a whoosh, the arai - living and the dust that remained from the fallen - all were sucked away in a hurricane of darkness and screeching. I looked over to Urie, who looked just as confused as I was. We tried to see into the storm that the arai were being funneled into, but it looked like a black hole from the angle I was at, and I couldn't see behind it.

"SWEEP!"

Any arai that remained intact as they were drawn in were instantly reduced to ashes. It was the Titan, Bob, who seriously knew how to use a broom. He slashed at the arai, destroying the demons while a kitten on his shoulder arched his back and hissed, leaving nothing but ashes that joined the chaotic mass of curses.

Then, within a split second, it was gone. All the arai, all the dust they had left in the slaughter, the storm, all gone. No more arai rose to replace the fallen, maybe there were no more left, maybe the rest had fled. Standing in plain view where the storm had once been, that boy, the chosen one, stood holding a simple rectangular lantern, glowing with a dark purple-blue flame, and he closed the door to the lantern, locking away the captured power of the arai's curses.

I saw that his eyes were glowing white with the power of Order, a power named after a force just as deadly as Chaos. There was a rage in his eyes, or maybe it was fatigue. In any case, he then fell to his knees, dropping the lantern beside him, before falling against the ground, the glow in his eyes fading away again.

Urie kneeled next to him, checking his condition before giving a nod in my direction. He was alive. That was good enough.

"Percy!" Annabeth was quick to surge to her boyfriend's side. "What's wrong with him?! Can you heal him?! Do something!"

I kneeled beside him and put my hand on his forehead. "That's…a lot of curses."

Annabeth cradled his shoulders and wept into his scalp. Percy's eyes were lost, barely seeing. His consciousness was like a small helium balloon, loosely tied to the top of his head. It had no weight, no strength. It just kept expanding, getting lighter and lighter. He knew that soon it would either burst or the string would break, and his life would float away.

Annabeth took his face in her hands. She kissed him and tried to wipe the dust and sweat from his eyes.

"Bob, can you help?" I asked. "You're stronger than I am at this stuff."

Bob loomed over us, his broom planted like a flag. His face was unreadable, luminously white in the dark.

"Lots of curses," Bob said. "Percy has done bad things to monsters."

"Can you fix him?" Annabeth pleaded. "Fix _Percy!_ "

Bob frowned. He picked at the name tag on his uniform like it was a scab.

Annabeth began again, "Bob-"

"Iapetus," Bob interrupted, his voice a low rumble. "Before Bob. It was Iapetus."

The air was absolutely still for a moment.

"Well, I like Bob better," I smiled. "Which do you like?"

The Titan regarded us with his pure silver eyes. "I do not know anymore."

He crouched next to her and studied Percy. Bob's face looked haggard and careworn, as if he suddenly felt the weight of all his centuries.

"I promised," He murmured. "Nico asked me to help. I do not think Iapetus or Bob likes breaking promises." He touched Percy's forehead. "Owie. Very big owie."

Percy's curses began to lift, but Bob could only heal the most recently inflicted ones - including the gorgon's blood - but that still left him with many more that added up to be disastrous, but at least he wasn't immediately in danger of death. He was still damn close though. The poison remained, but it had only been slowed.

I kneeled. "You'll have to get him proper treatment."

"Bob cannot cure this," The Titan agreed. "Too much poison. Too many curses piled up."

Annabeth hugged Percy's shoulders, and he gave the smallest of cringes from pain.

"Careful with him," I warned.

"What can we do?" Annabeth asked. "Is there water anywhere? Water might heal him."

"No water," Bob said. "Tartarus is bad."

At least Bob was willing to help Annabeth if Percy didn't make it. That was more than enough for Percy, his dying wish that would allow him to rest in peace. Annabeth's safety.

"No," Annabeth insisted. "No, there  _has_  to be a way.  _Something_  to heal him."

Bob placed his hand on Percy's chest. A cold tingle like eucalyptus oil spread across his sternum, but as soon as Bob lifted his hand, the relief stopped. Percy's lungs were as hot as lava again.

"Tartarus kills demigods," I said. "This isn't an easy place to find healers. It heals monsters, but you don't belong. Tartarus won't heal Percy. The pit hates your kind."

"I don't care," Annabeth said. "Even here, there  _has_  to be someplace he can rest, some kind of cure he can take. Maybe back at the altar of Hermes, or-"

In the distance, a deep voice bellowed - a voice that was familiar, unfortunately.

"I SMELL HIM!" Roared the giant. "BEWARE, SON OF POSEIDON! I COME FOR YOU!"

"Polybotes," Bob informed them. "He hates Poseidon and his children. He is very close now."

Annabeth struggled to get Percy to his feet. Even with Annabeth supporting almost all his weight, he could barely stand.

"I'm going on," Annabeth declared. "With or without you. Will you help?"

The kitten Small Bob mewed and began to purr, rubbing against Bob's chin. Bob looked at Percy pensively. It was hard to read the Titan's expression, to tell if he was angry, or just thoughtful, to see if he was planning revenge just feeling hurt because Percy had lied about being his friend?

I put my hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "We can't stay, I'm sorry. Our time here is limited enough."

"Who are you, anyway?" Annabeth demanded. "Why are you here? Can you help us?"

"Let's just say that we're here for him." I jabbed my finger at the chosen boy. "But we'll help you by extension. May we one day meet again on better terms, Annabeth Chase. Now, listen closely. There is one place here where you may find aid. There is a giant who might know what to do. Bob can guide you."

Annabeth almost dropped Percy. "Uh…giants are bad."

"One is good," Bob insisted. "Trust me, and I will take you…unless Polybotes and the others catch us first."

I walked over to Urie, who had picked up that chosen boy and carried him over to give to the Titan. "He'll be fine, but who knows when he'll wake up? His soul's being torn between two infinitely powerful beings all at the same time."

I looked down at my hand and saw it was beginning to sparkle with energy as my form began to fade.

"Time's up," Urie announced.

"Wait, who are you?" Annabeth demanded. "At least tell me  _what_  you are. Names?"

Urie and I shared glances, before I shrugged. "Hannah. Hannah Der Meister von Allem."

Urie brushed his white locks out of his face, an obvious way of showing off to someone who knew him too well (*mentally points at self*).

"You can call me Ithuriel."

With that, we were pulled back into the Veil.

* * *

First Person: Lucy

I woke up dancing.

Now, it's a very disorienting process, let it be known. There were strobe lights and a shouting crowd that was clapping to the beat of a song around me. My feet were bare as I danced across hardwood floor, a band playing from somewhere, or maybe it was just a track on speakers. Or maybe it was magic.

" _Step into the rainbow, find another view_ ~  
" _Chase the tender light, borders let's cross over_ ~  
" _Ready to define the mists inside your heart_ ~?  
" _Take a breath and start your life_ ~

" _Waves of a new day_ ~  
" _Clear all the gloom away_ ~  
" _Hope is what we simply need to proceed_ ~"

I spread my arms for the slower and longer beautiful notes of the song, lost in my enjoyment of the music and the dance, the beat and the tune.

" _Waves ~ of a new day_ ~  
" _Clear ~ all the gloom away_ ~  
" _Hope ~ is what we simply need to proceed_ ~!"

The music took over, the crowd jumping and dancing to the rhythm while I spun and moved and tapped my feet and danced in a circle with the crow around me.

" _Waves ~ of a new day_ ~  
" _Clear ~ all the gloom away_ ~  
" _Hope ~ is what we simply need to proceed_ ~!"

There was more music, laughing, clapping to the beat, strobe lights of all colors blinding yet flashing to the beat so it wasn't as disorienting as it could be. This was joy,  _bliss_  even; this was one of those moments that I could enjoy for the duration of the song. I knew it would be over soon, that the moment will have come and gone, but for now, I needed to make the most of it.

" _Step into the rainbow, world you never knew_ ~  
" _Chase the heights of light, soar beyond your sorrows_ ~  
" _Dance among the colors, let them be your dreams_ ~  
" _Close your eyes and see anew_ ~

" _Dawn of the new day_ ~  
" _Clears all the gloom away_ ~  
" _This is the hope that we need to go on_ ~!

" _Dawn ~ of the new day_ ~  
" _Clears ~ all the gloom away_ ~  
" _This ~ is the hope that we need to go on_ ~!"

As the music continued, the crowd began to disperse and dance on their own with partners and small friend groups. I took the opportunity to walk off the dance floor to grab a cup of ice water from the snacks table.

"Enjoying yourself?" Papa asked.

"More than you know!" I shouted over the loud music and crowd.

"Happy Birthday!" Audrey shouted, pulling one of those party poppers that spewed confetti.

I froze in confusion. "Is it my birthday?"

My thoughts were all jumbled up at the moment. I felt a sense of familiarity - yes, I'd been told about a party earlier and this must've been it. But birthday? That didn't sound right.

"No," Kandai said. "Her birthday was a few weeks ago."

" _Bleated_  birthday," She deadpanned, popping another of the confetti things in my face before walking off.

"Where's Ithuriel?" I asked.

Kan shrugged. "He said that he'd be here soon. A surprise, perhaps."

"Veon?"

"With Emily. They're in the other room. Ah, there they are."

Emily shoved Veon forward. "Go for it!"

Veon looked slightly perturbed, waving Emily away and walking up to me. "How's it going?"

"Fine," I said casually. If he was nervous about something, I didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. That would just be mean. "You missed the Sunleth dance."

He chuckled. "Right. I heard it from the other room."

Kandai looked between us as though he was watching a reality TV show in real life. "I'm, uh…I'ma go look for Ithuriel."

He snuck away ever gracefully, taking Emily's arm and whispering something to her as though sharing secrets while they disappeared into the crowd.

"S-So…how 'bout a dance?" Veon requested.

"Sure."

I tossed my plastic cup into the trash can and waved for him to follow me to the dance floor. The Sunleth theme was fading out and another one of the songs began. It was the 'Eyes on Me' waltz from FFVIII.

Veon looked at the speakers like they had betrayed him, before holding out his hands. "Let's see if I can remember how to waltz."

I laughed. "Ditto."

He took my hand first and I put my arm on his shoulder, but he was hesitant about where he was supposed to put his other arm on my waist. He was tall, so he initially put it right at my shoulder blade, then lowered it to my hip, then aimed in the middle for my waist. I stepped closer so that it was less awkward of an angle, before starting the dance.

"Put your right foot forward, the male is supposed to lead."

In all honesty, this was how it was for most of my dances - I was always leading, but still following the female steps to attempt to preserve the guy's self-esteem. We had once needed to dance for a choir performance, and then another time for a hoedown slow dance.

"Now left foot to the right."

"Your right or my right?"

"My right. Sorry, your left foot to your left, my right foot to my right. Now rotate this way and right foot to the right. Now rotate and left to the left, and rotate, right to the right so that your feet make a box."

He remembered how to do it pretty quickly, with the occasional slip up from both parties, before we started laughing and making our steps more deliberate, apologizing and chuckling as each person made a mistake.

"Okay, time for the famous part."

We stepped in front of each other, right hands out with his palm up and mine down, before we stepped to the left of each other, pulled back, stepped to the right, then we stepped to the left and fully crossed each other, arms going over my head, then stepping left and right again and crossing once more. We then released hands and stepped to be back to back, slid past each other to the beat of the song, stepped out and then took hands with outstretched arms, I spun on his arm and then reversed to step out again at a new angel, repeating the process to turn us 180 degrees before I spun back in and we ended up in our previous waltz position.

The whole time I narrated the steps for fun, even though we both knew the dance pretty well: "Left, and right, and around, and left, and right, and around, and slide, slide, slide, slide, take my hand and spin, and whoo!"

We began the regular waltz again, slightly out of breath and laughing together. This was the feeling I wanted more of, the closeness, the trust, the relaxing feeling that came from loving someone who you didn't have to hide anything from, who you didn't have to pretend around. By the time the excitement died down and the waltzes downgraded to simple swaying, I sighed and relaxed my head on his shoulder. He rested his chin on my head after a moment of hesitation, as though asking for permission, and I swear I could've fallen asleep like that.

With a peak, I saw Emily throwing a pair of thumbs up and Audrey giving a sarcastic golf-clap as if to say "Great job, you made it at least, even if it took an inordinate amount of time. But a 'C' is still a passing grade. Kinda."

I gave her a finger and closed my eyes to rest against Veon again in peace.

"So…Lu?"

I felt Veon's voice rumbling in his chest, and I couldn't tell if I wanted him to be quiet or if I liked the sound of his voice from such a close proximity.

"Hm?" I hummed.

"I was thinking, since we've been rooming together for so long in that apartment without destroying each other, that maybe we should…I mean it would make sense for…y-you see my dad has given me a bit of funds so maybe we could…"

"What?" I prodded.

He took a deep breath. "Maybe we should move out."

I raised my head to look at him. "Move out?"

"Get our own place, I mean."

I lowered my head and stared at the location where his tie would be (he didn't wear a tie because he wasn't a fan of them and I had once mentioned that he looked better without them). I took in the details of his collar as I tried to process his words.

"But…I mean, the apartment is free, no rent - it was given to us by the Primordials. I mean, that's not too shabby. And I like it."

"Right, right. Forget it, it was just a stupid thought-"

"Ve, what did you mean? I mean, what were you imagining? We get our own home? Like, in New Rome?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. Or…maybe we could go out into the real world."

"You know how dangerous that is."

"Yeah, but Legion veterans do it often. We could be one of those branches that sends new demigods to New Rome or Camp Half-Blood, we could live in a community and protect it from monsters."

"It wouldn't be as safe."

"Maybe not. Our lives would be full of worry, we'd have to take tons of precautions about who we interact with, where we work, where we shop, study for college stuff, yada, yada, yada, but…I just feel out of place here. I mean, it's great and all, the Legion protects New Rome, but what happens when we get out of shape, when we start to forget how to fight, and then when New Rome inevitably gets attacked by another apocalypse? I want to go out and do good to the world, be the trump card that no one knows about. If the camps are in jeopardy, if there's a quest where someone needs a little aid, we could be out there as a place where demigods and the supernatural are welcome, we could be diverse in our skill set and be the cavalry when the world goes to hell - which it does  _so_  often."

I smiled. "Yeah, it does."

"I wanna be a demigod - half human, half god. I don't wanna completely shut out the camps, obviously, we can visit as many times as we want, but…I wanna be out there in the world."

"And risk dying every day? Ve, I don't wanna come home from work or school or whatever one day and wait for you to come home only to find out that you're dead somewhere in an alley where I might've been able to help you had I found you but I never knew anything. Ve, that's  _exactly_  what happened to my dad, you know. I told myself, "He'll be back, he's never let me down," and then I find out that he's not coming home from some bitch that locked me up, and…and I couldn't survive that feeling again, not from you. I couldn't lose you like that."

His head dropped. "I know, I…I know. I'm sorry. We don't have to do anything, I just…I shouldn't have brought it up."

I raised his head so that his eyes met mine. "Hey, I'm not completely opposed to the idea. Just…maybe when we get older. How about…25? We can get the Hephaestus kids to hack into the internet and give us identities so that we're not brought in for questioning for never having existed in the past, and so we can get jobs, go to real college, and buy stuff legally. We can get a house, with a TV obviously, and a dog, we  _need_  to get a dog. Preferably a puppy. Let's name him Tidus. Not  _Teedus_ , Tidus."

Veon laughed. "I'd love that. And we should get a heater. Heaters are necessary for winter. I will not be happy if we don't have a heater."

"We need a heater, yeah. We'd have to set up precautionary system too, wardings against monsters, as well as cameras for human burglars. Did you know that people just walk up to houses and steal packages sitting on the porch?"

"Yeah, those people are just  _rude_. And we'll be able to vote for the president. We should totally make the next one a woman, I'm just saying. African Americans got their freedom and then women fought for equal rights - we've had Barak Obama, now we need a woman!"

I laughed. "We'll be old enough to drink too! I can legally walk into a bar and clubs!"

"For what reason would you want to go to a bar or a club?"

"Hunting monsters, obviously."

"That's it?"

"Uh-huh."

"We'd need to get insurance," Veon realized.

"And pay taxes," I pointed out.

"And if we survive that long together, we'll also be old enough for alone time together."

I chuckled nervously. "I have my hopes. And my fears."

"Yeah, well so do I."

I leaned my head against his warmth again. "I think we can make it work. I can't imagine anything that would tear us apart."

"Heaven and Hell have tried."

"Heaven and Hell seem pretty conflicted about whether they want us together or apart."

"Well, whatever they throw at us, I'll be fighting for you through it all."

"And I, for you."

He kissed my head. "You wanna go home?" He whispered into my hair.

"Yeah, that'd be nice. I'd love that."

Then, there was a commotion from the doorway as Ithuriel shoved his way through the people - including Emily and Audrey - and then leaned on his knees dramatically as he breathed hard for a couple moments.

"Whoo, finally! There you are Rei!" Veon and I separated just slightly to face him as he walked over and stared at me. "I need to speak with you."

He eyed the room (who was now staring at him) and then looked between the two of us.

"Oh, am I interrupting something?"

Veon looked at me and then Ithuriel before sighing. "No, Ithuriel. She's all yours."

He took a step back and I instantly felt disappointed that I'd lost contact with him. I felt cold without his warmth beside me, and slightly clammy. Had I been sweating?

Ithuriel took my arm and I got that feeling of suddenly stepping on a treadmill as we were teleported…to my apartment, my shared room with Veon. Ithuriel started looking around the room, checking the bathroom, the window, then the bed.

"This…this is where it's strongest."

"Ithuriel?" I asked cautiously. "What's wrong?"

"You, you, you, you're…you're warping this reality." He pointed at me accusingly. "You're not just a figment of my imagination, not anymore. You arrived right here." He pointed at my bed. "A-And then suddenly the world shifted and everything started to adapt to your point of view of your happiness. Our realities blended together, that's why I've been so confused - YOU! You're…are you real?"

I tried to process everything that he'd just said. "Sorry… _what?_ "

"Is your name Ren?"

"Um…no. That was my mom's name. Well, the name she constantly went by, anyway. Do…did you know my mom?"

"Is your name Rei?" He blurted instead.

"Um…yes? I'd assume you'd know. By after I got adopted, my name changed to Lu-"

He took me by the shoulders almost desperately. " _Are you Rei?_ " He repeated. "Are you  _my_  Rei, are you real? Are you trapped in Chaos with me?!  _Are you my daughter?!_ "

* * *

First Person: Zytaveon

Okay, so back to me. Great, my turn.

So after I got turned to dust and nearly died, there was this weird guy with white hair that was suddenly standing above me, and I realized that he was healing me somehow. I gasped and felt my body suddenly was now back, I could feel my limbs again and they tingled, but were otherwise unharmed.

I coughed heavily as I was eased up by that guy with white hair. "Easy, kid. You're gonna be okay for now, but that was dangerous. You're body has been remade by Tartarus now, and who knows what kind of traps he has in store for you."

"Remade by…Tartarus?"

He nodded. "I'm Ithuriel, by the way."

"Like the angel?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, my parents were heavily religious. They just, you know, got the wrong religion. I'm a son of Ares."

"What are you doing  _here?_ "

"I can't stay for long, but I'm here to help you and your friends. My partner should be helping Percy and Annabeth now, but we should hurry and get over to them. Can you stand?"

He helped me to my feet, and though I wobbled, I regained my balance and knew that I just needed a little bit of stretching to gather my strength.

"What did you say about Tartarus rebuilding me?"

He chuckled nervously. "Well…you just died there, kid. Or at least, you  _nearly_  died. Your body was destroyed and the souls inside were almost released, but Tartarus put you back together. I've helped to regain your control, but now you and Order are more vulnerable than ever. Are you even compatible for Order's power yet? Have you taken the trials?"

"Trials?"

He gave an exasperated sigh. "Just great. Look, I need to go help Hannah - my partner - and your friends. Bob, take it from here, will you?"

"Wait! The trial thing, how do I do that? Will it help Order get more power?"

"If you're compatible. If you fail those trials, all of us will lose too."

"I can do it. If I can help Order fight Tartarus, if we can take back any ground that we've lost, then I'll do anything."

' _I have to help my friends, I have to prove to Lu that I can do this, that she doesn't have to throw her life away for me._ '

He stared at me for a long moment, before putting his hand to my chest where I felt the gem that Lu had given me when she'd jumped into Tartarus.

"Don't fail us. Remember all that's on the line."

"Who are you, anyway? How did you get here, how are you connected to Order and Chaos a-and Tartarus, and  _Bob?_ "

"I don't have time to explain, but I'm a friend, I swear. You have to trust me, Zytaveon, and I have no choice but to trust you too. You and your girlfriend have screwed up the universe, but we have a chance to fix things. And who can really blame her for what she did? If it were me and Hannah, I would've done the same. This is a big burden to bear, bigger than any of us realize. Are you really prepared?"

I nodded. "As prepared as I'll ever be."

He nodded hesitantly. "Good luck."

He pressed his hand into my chest and the gem, and the world went white.

* * *

I saw Ithuriel running away, and at the same time, I didn't. It was like a dream, I couldn't tell if I was dreaming or if what I saw was real.

" _Bob, or Iapetus,_ " I said, though it wasn't my voice. " _Will you aid Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase?_ "

"Bob…Bob does not know."

I placed my hand on his shoulder. " _Hear his calls, hear is plea. And decide for yourself, who Perseus Jackson truly is. He has made his mistakes, but he has the potential to change._ "

Bob listened. He listened to the thoughts Percy had of him, how he understood what he'd done to Bob.

' _I'm sorry, Bob. I should've been honest with you. Please…forgive me. Protect Annabeth._ '

Bob's eyes snapped open. Without a word, he had decided. Small Bob purred on Bob's shoulder and stretched, as though preparing for a battle.

" _Let us proceed, Bob._ "

The two of us walked forward to see the wave of arai attacking their friends - Ithuriel and another girl who must've been Hannah fending them off seemingly without any trouble.

Curses that inflict pain based on the pain you've inflicted. Where else had I heard that power before?

I held up my hands, summoning power I didn't know I'd ever possessed. Within my hands, an orb of energy gathered like a Kamehameha wave was about to be made, but instead, the energy transformed to give me a simple lantern. You know, like the thing Hook captured Tinkerbell in during those movies and cartoons? It was a rectangular prism, four rectangles of glass making up the sides, connected to two square bases, one with a hook leading to a handle. Inside was a lit yellow/orange flame.

A Tonberry lantern - a creature known for vengeance and death based on the amount of damage you'd inflicted. They often waved a lantern to release spirits that inflicted the damage, and couldn't those spirits very well be arai?

" _I summon the power of the Tonberry!_ "

I held up the lantern and the arai were swept up in a torrent of death and revenge, curses and hatred, each of the monsters sucked into the enchanted lantern. The flame turned a dark blue to midnight purple with the curses trapped inside. Bob joined in with one of his sweep attacks, and the arai didn't stand a chance.

Once the attack was finished, my vision began to fade again. Had this been real? Had this just been a dream? Strange dream. Kinda pointless.

Whatever. I just wanted sleep at the moment. Yeah, sleep. That would be nice.

* * *

I felt like I was punched in the chest, and found myself falling on the beach in Camp Half-Blood.

How the hell did I get  _here?_  Wasn't I just…dying or something?

I picked myself up, brushing the sand off my clothes. My poor, innocent jacket.

I looked around. The camp seemed to be abandoned, almost in a zombie-apocalypse kind of way. I was about to walk into camp to check things out, but then I heard a loud crashing of a wave and bubbling from the ocean behind me. I turned and looked to see the water shifting, swirling in a whirlpool before splitting to reveal Audrey standing on the sand below where the water had once been. She walked forward as the water replaced itself behind her. She didn't even flick her wrist or anything, the water simply followed her mental commands.

"Audrey?"

She didn't seem to acknowledge me, her face stoic - not scowling, but not…alive, either.

Then she raised her hand and the ocean attacked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song is Sunleth theme from FF XIII. That tune is so catchy, but with the two different sets of lyrics, I tend to mix them up. They should just make it one big song, I mean both sets of lyrics are in English, why change it?


	22. Beyond Who You Are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'mA dOnE wIt Ma PlAy ReHeArSaLs~!
> 
> Finally, I'm going to have time to work on this darn thing, because the play that I decided that I would join this year left me with zero time to write - on top of all the Calculus, English, Physics, Choir, and U.S. History homework which was…FUN!
> 
> And, on the bright side, I think my muse has returned for this story (still putting off the whole writing about Octavian thing until the next chapter. Haha, I wanna kill him).
> 
> Dem stakes are rising and the stuffs are being revealed.
> 
> :)

First Person: Lucy

"Daughter?" I asked blankly _._

"Yes, daughter," Ithuriel snapped. "As in child of mine that's of the female sex."

"I  _know_  what daughter means."

"Then tell me! Yes or no! That's all I need!"

"Yes, I suppose! I mean, you're dating Papa, aren't you?"

He grunted in frustration. "That's not what I meant! I mean that you're  _really_  my daughter!"

"How real are we talking?"

"Like…you sprouted from a hole in my forehead! Or was it my back…?"

"Like I'm your  _godly_  child?"

"Yes!"

"Well, that depends on who you are."

He started pacing. "Ugh! Humans are so frustrating!"

"Well, I don't know what you  _want_  from me! Just…" I sighed. "Just slow down and explain a little more about what this is all about."

Ithuriel huffed. "I left Kandai with a daughter before I went off to host Order, or as I like to call her, 'A.'"

"A?"

"I wasn't very creative. This is why I let Kandai name my daughter. Anyway, after I heard that they were looking for a host for Chaos, I said that I could host him too. I passed A's trials easily enough, why not try Chaos? I would've named him 'Z.' Of course, A warned me that I wouldn't be able to do it, but I did it without her permission anyway. And then I…well, I got stuck here. This is a land I don't understand and never could, and now I realize that only a being possessing Chaos's creative touch can be his host. Basically, only a mortal could host him for reasons that I'm still figuring out. But now I think I know."

"So…you're Zenobia?"

He sighed. "I haven't been called that in a long time. But yes, that was my former name, once. It's the name that I had before I met Kandai. The name that he knew me as was Ren. Then, after that, Ithuriel."

"Why the name changes?"

"It's complicated. You see, I don't have a physical form, and therefore I have to find hosts that are worthy of my power - people or creatures or whatever that find a moment of desperation at their final moments, a surge of power that I grant them if they're worthy. If I find someone worthy on the verge of death, I can take residence within them for a temporary amount of time. We gods aren't allowed to disturb the natural order of things and interfere with mortal lives, but I was just  _so_  desperate to know what it was like. So I went down one day, many eons ago, as Zenobia the Butcher - a murderous female knight. Despite her title, she was an honorable woman, she traveled the lands feared but respected, and she had friends, as well as enemies. I lived as her for a few days, maybe a week by this time standard. And I enjoyed it  _so_  much. Then, I had to go back. The next time that I came to the mortal world, I was a patient in a hospital who had just recovered from asphyxiation, starvation, dehydration, etc when an earthquake happened and she was buried under the rubble of her house. She was saved by Kandai, a son of Apollo gifted with healing powers and archery skills. Needless to say, I wasn't aware that in this new world, the gods were no longer a part of modern society, and he found me, taught me about this new land, the customs, the people, and I fell in love. So when Ren needed her body back, I decided to do something that I didn't realize was terrible."

I sat down on the bed, now engrossed in the story of my parents. "What happened?"

"Ithuriel and his new girlfriend, Hannah, were in an accident. Hannah and Ithuriel were destined to go to Elysium, I knew that, but they were meant to survive the crash, just barely, thanks to Ithuriel's determination to protect Hannah. He would have saved her and himself, they would've gotten help, and they would have recovered. So when I gave him that burst of power from his love and grief, denial of her death, I possessed him, but I refused to give him the strength I was supposed to, so both of them died. I now had a vessel that was mine and mine alone; I wouldn't be kicked out after a certain period of time, and I was so excited to tell Kandai that I could stay with him indefinitely. But when I confronted him, it turns out that Ithuriel and Hannah were his best friends, and that I had just…I had just taken them from him when I wasn't supposed to. Now, the Fates hated me, Hades and Thanatos  _really_  hated me, and Kandai could barely even look at me. The other gods were right in telling me I shouldn't come down to the mortal world. I didn't know anything about it. I didn't understand Kandai's emotions at first. But I tried to learn. I tried so hard after that. In the end, I said goodbye to him, but I left him with a daughter as I went off to make myself useful, be Order's host, and then I tried to be Chaos's host on top of it because I was so desperate to prove I could do something  _right_ , so desperate to make up for what I did."

I stared for a long moment of silence. "So…did he ever forgive you? I mean…you're here, getting along."

He scoffed. "No. You must understand, you  _have_  to. This is the world of Chaos, a world of dreams, a perfect world for its residents. This is a world where he forgave me, a world where I have him, I have you and all your friends. It's my dream, and I surmise it must be yours too."

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. I was trying to beat the trials and I came here."

"You arrived in that bed. I can sense it. Unless I'm getting rusty."

I shook my head. "No, you're right. I arrived here. Woke up right next to Veon…"

I looked at the spot where he had slept.

Ithuriel frowned. "You love him, no?"

I nodded. "More than ever. It's a lot easier to feel my emotions now that I'm here. I haven't been myself for a long time, able to  _feel_. You said this dream world is perfect, and that's how it seems, yes. I can't remember what it was like to feel pain, to  _want_  pain like I once did. My own guilt, my sorrow, my addictions, none of it. I just feel love. I know that I cared about Veon before, but now…now I'm free to be myself without all that extra baggage and…it feels  _good_."

"You're awake, you haven't fallen completely. Which means you still remember what it was like, carrying that baggage. What do you think it would be like with him then?"

"Terrible. I think that I'm so happy in this dream because I  _know_  that it's a dream. I know that I can't get it wrong, that even if I do, it'll all work itself out. The real him…he'd be weighed down by me and my past. I don't think that he'd be able to help me when my sorrow comes crashing down upon me after all these years. Even when Order left me, Chaos and Tartarus were instantly trying to call dibs. This place isn't real, it only allows me to feel joy. I know, logically, the pain that I have to face in my past, and I know that it adds up to misery beyond comprehension."

He moved to sit down next to me. "Misery? You speak of pain, sorrow, guilt, addictions, a past that I don't know about."

"Dad died when I was four."

Ithuriel froze. "I…see. H-How…?"

"Hellhounds. This human government learned about demigods, monsters, all that stuff, and they got their hands on some Hellhounds. They wanted  _me_ , in reality, and Papa protected me so well until…one day we were found. We went to Britain, like where he wanted to take you. It was great. Papa was a doctor and he made a lot of money. I got to ride to work with him, meet his coworkers, and we made a life for ourselves. Whenever we faced a monster, Papa would always handle things and protect me. He never failed. Then, one day, he goes out on my birthday to get a present, and then he just…didn't come home. Instead, that government showed up and took me away. They wanted to figure out how I worked. I escaped once, but they caught me. I ran away as many times as I could, but I always ended up back there. Until I met Kaze, my little brother, a son of Hermes. When I ran away, I took him with me, and this time, I was determined never to go back for his sake. But then Order came to me on my birthday, and I lost Kaze too."

Ithuriel's head fell. "It's my fault. I left you and Kan, then I decided to try and host Chaos out of my own guilt and ended up failing and passing the burden of Order to you. Chaos was captured, you see, by Tartarus, and he needed a host to be able to fight back. I wanted to help, so at that moment, when so much was on the line, I wanted to prove myself and maybe calm my conscience about what I did to you and your father. But I just made things worse."

"So you've been here ever since I first took on Order. You're the extra contender that Chaos said was in here with me. She said that you could help me, share notes about what you know and maybe we can figure out how to escape together."

"There is no escaping  _together_ , Rei. This is a world where only one person makes it out - the worthiest. If you make it out, I'll just go back to the world of my dreams without your influence on it."

"And that world is?"

"Nothingness."

"Nothingness?"

"I'm a goddess, Rei. I told you, I don't understand human emotions, therefore I don't really understand what it means to be in this place, what I want and what I need to do to get out. Only someone touched by Chaos, filled with impurities but also potential, can beat this place. I am a being created for a single purpose and I can't extend beyond my…programming, if that makes sense."

"So that's why you never came back, that's why you failed? You can't evolve?"

"Can't evolve to comprehend humans, be like them. In return for being divine beings, gods can't adapt to situations and learn to do something else. That's why demigods are so powerful - you have our power in smaller quantities, but you have the potential to evolve and rise to heights beyond your parents. The other gods don't often like to admit it, but they're limited. They pretend to be all high and mighty, but the power balance between eldest and youngest of creations is more equal than most realize."

"So only I have the ability to figure out how to get out of here?"

"In essence. I can aid you, but I fear I won't be of much use."

"What will happen to you? If I leave?"

"I'll spend an eternity trying to understand something that I can't. I'll live in the world of my memories because I can only look back, never forward. This world you have here can move forward, but mine can only reflect on my past because that's the closest I've ever come to being human."

"Mom…err, Dad? There  _has_  to be a way."

He smiled sadly. "No, I chose this fate. I did this to myself, and I'll live with the guilt of all I've done in my past. Perhaps it's better that I stay here so that I don't make any more mistakes."

"But-"

"Rei," He said firmly.

I clamped my mouth shut despite the strong urge to protest. I had a paragraph's worth of argument left in me still, and more coming every moment.

"I've made my peace. I may not have been able to fix everything I broke, but this shall be my atonement. My power will still extend to the mortal world as long as people gain strength within that they need in times of desperation. I can never die, in that sense. No one can get hurt by me and I can still give my power."

"You were curious about the mortal world, you feel guilty for your actions since you know that what you did was wrong - you  _loved_. It all proves that you're different, that you have the ability to evolve  _somehow_. You don't deserve this fate."

"Yes, I do. Even if I was willing to believe in the impossible, it wouldn't change it to no longer be impossible."

"That's where you're wrong. It's when someone believes in the impossible, that they fight for it because they know that they'll change its impossibility, that it becomes possible again. Okay, that was kinda confusing. Basically, we have to believe that the only thing that's impossible is impossibility. Even if you try and fail, it's better than not trying at all."

"And I suppose that's what makes us different. I see that something is not worth trying, and I don't try it. I live by pure logic, and find no point in moving beyond such. I  _can't_. It's in my nature."

I sighed. "Well, I  _know_  that you're different. While we try and find  _me_  a way out of here, there's nothing stopping me from teaching  _you_  in the process. We'll just have to see if what I do is effective or not. There's no guarantee, but I'll have to teach you in the process of us figuring this out anyway, so let's just see."

He blinked. "I…I suppose there's logic in that."

"Then let's get started. You said that you couldn't complete these trials because you weren't human, that you couldn't change things about yourself and evolve, and go beyond your known capabilities. But that's  _everything_  that you represent! Going beyond your limits when you need it most, pushing yourself to heights that you were never meant to reach. I've done it a thousand times before."

"This isn't a place where you can be pushed to your limits though," Ithuriel/Ren/Zenobia/wait-what-are-we-supposed-to-call-him/her-again?

"Oh, just call me Ithuriel if it makes things easier. A 'he.' It's what I am right now."

"But don't you have an original name? I get it if you're a 'they' and gender ambiguous, but don't you have a  _name?_ "

He shook his head. "Did Order and Chaos have names before humans named them? Did they refer to anyone but themselves? There weren't even genders back then, let alone names. Things just kinda…existed. That's how it was for me. I just kinda…existed. Without a name, without a gender, without  _a need_  for any kind of identification. But every time I helped someone, I saw their reasons to live and fight back and survive. They had loved ones, they had goals and aspirations, they had vengeance beyond anything else I'd ever seen. It was amazing, and I tried to understand it all, got confused beyond imagination, and never resolved the questions I had."

"Something cryptic then. Query."

"Query?"

"Query, agender god of limit breaks."

"Ερώτηση - Erótisi. Gender non-binary god of power itself. Your father always called me that."

"Erótisi. Greek. Cool. And I know about what Papa said. He told me that. That I was the daughter of the best god out there, the goddess of power itself. Erótisi. I like it."

They nodded. "Then it's decided. Come, daughter of Erótisi. It is time we learn how to channel the limits of this dream. And then, we shall teach you how to surpass them."

* * *

First Person: Zytaveon

"Audrey what's going on?!"

She didn't seem to hear me.

I reacted very gracefully in the sense that I ducked as a large tsunami came flying at me. Unfortunately, this quick thinking didn't seem to have any effect for some reason.

I was pulled under the tide, the wind knocked out of me and panic setting in. I tried to remember the things that I'd learned about being caught in a flood. I knew that first priority was to get to the surface, but it was easy to get disoriented and be unable to tell which way was up. Gravity could be especially confusing when the water itself was fighting you from every direction.

My lungs were already burning and I had to resist the urge to open my mouth and  _try_  to breathe - which would just result in a mouthful of water. I couldn't attack the water, so the only thing left was my powers. The first power that I learned was the only one that came to mind that could save me: I started putting my power into turning it all to dust.

I pushed everything that I had left into my ash power, feeling as though my life was draining right out of every square inch of my skin. My lungs were fighting for their right to breathe, but I simply focused as hard as I could to push their anger into my power as well.

When I woke up, unaware that I had even been asleep at all, I found myself covered in ash. I wiggled my hands so that they were in front of my mouth and nose, clearing out a small space so that I could breathe. This was something that I could remember how to do. I spit into my hands to realize that I was upside down. I dug a path for me to flip my position, continuing to use my spit to tell which way gravity was facing before I finally started digging upwards. I had to keep one hand over my nose and mouth and make sure I didn't swallow or breathe in any more ash than I probably had already.

It felt like the pile of ash would never end, but the weight of the ash above me started to get lighter, so I knew I was approaching the top.

It must have been a full 30 minutes of climbing before I made it to the top; at the very least it felt like it. I finally broke the surface, taking a few cautious breaths before slowly opening my eyes to see the bright sun. Beyond that, there was no more color left in the world.

I carefully made a seat in the ash where I could sit, catch my breath, and make sure nothing was damaged. My breathing was a bit dry and I really needed some water, but beyond that, the biggest problem appeared to be that I looked like I just came out of a coal mine. My precious jacket would never be the same.

I finally processed what had happened. I had turned the ocean to ash - as in, the entire ocean. But not just the ocean, everything touching the ocean. The effect of my deterioration ability had turned the land to ash as well, and everything on it. Camp Half-Blood was nothing but a sea of blackness, and I could no longer see New York in the distance. It was all gone. That shouldn't have been possible, but a feeling of dread told me that it was real.

This couldn't be real. I tried to imagine that it was a dream, or maybe virtual reality. It wasn't real, it  _couldn't_  be. Just a very vivid dream.

I slid over the ash hills, being careful with my steps so that I didn't sink down into the dust again. I wondered, for a moment, what had happened to Audrey.

Then, I didn't have to.

She was there, standing on the ashes, her face blank at the loss of her weapon. But she reared back and flipped the cap of her water bottle. Thankfully, I dodged just in time as a snake of water shot out like a whip and struck the pile of ash behind me, sending the black dust flying. Her whip retracted back to her and then began to spin like floating chakram.

"Audrey, what the hell is going on?!"

She reared back and threw her chakram rings of water forward. They spun like frisbees through the air and dug into the ash ground where I had been before I dived to the side. Audrey summoned her weapons back to her before holding one out, hovering around her hand, that released a sonic wave. I jumped to shove my hands over my ears, running as the wave of destruction followed me and shook the earth. I ducked behind an ash dune as she closed in.

"Audrey stop!"

"She won't stop, not until you kill her."

I looked up and saw Chuck standing a few feet away. He waved in Audrey's direction and the sonic blast halted.

"What is this place?" I demanded.

"My trials," He said. "Wasn't it obvious? Your little girlfriend never told you, did she? The truth about what she had to do to hold my power? To win the trials of Order, you have to kill every loved one you've ever known and held dear to your heart. Little Rei only had a couple overall - her father, her brother, her mother, maybe a friend or two. In the end, it didn't take her too long. It broke her heart though, body and soul. Something within her had to shatter in order to be my host - her hope."

"Hope?"

"That girl was perfect, completely destroyed, ruined, and  _beautiful_. She was shattered and whole, broken and fixed, alive and dead. She was  _perfect!_ " He snapped. "But then she had to start changing. As I weakened, she began to grow, evolve, and now she's ruined  _everything!_ "

He seemed to shake the ground as he spoke with rage before he then calmed down within a single breath or so.

"And now, here we are. I wonder what that girl will become, honestly. But for now, it seems I'm stuck with you, little witch. My son and I will fight for your mind, or rather, we shall place bets, so to speak. You must find a way to shatter yourself and make yourself more whole than you've ever been. Push beyond your human limitations, go beyond anything you could even imagine before! Be disgusted with yourself and more proud than ever! Destroy yourself, my boy, and make yourself  _perfect!_ "

I felt a weight in my hand as my lance suddenly appeared. My sword was at my hip, and my wrist weighed down with my shield cuff.

"Let's see what you can do, little boy."

With that, he disappeared and I felt the shockwave of Audrey's sonic blast starting up once more. I flicked my wrist and my shield formed. I rarely ever used it, but now was as good a time as any to finally get some practice with it.

Push beyond my limits. What about Lu made her perfect in Chuck's eyes, in the eyes of a Primordial deity? She was broken, he said. Did I have to break myself as well? But how? Killing my friends in this virtual world?

" _Is she going to be okay?"_

_Audrey was standing beside the others in the sickbay. Lu was currently unconscious on one of the beds._

_"Only time will tell," Emily reported. "She's our main medic. At this point, I'm just trying to read her condition with my emotions power. But all I see is_ _…blackness._ "

I ran out from cover, holding my shield out in front of me and charging towards Audrey. Her shield blocked a good deal of her sonic blast, allowed me to push back against it, and even seemed to muffle the sound upon impact. I used my lance to launch up and then drop down on top of her, but she jumped back and out of the way, sending out her chakram. I sliced through one and blocked the other, but as they were both made out of water, I had to keep my guard up since my weapons went right through them before they reformed into their original shapes.

I swept my lance around before tossing it up, grabbing my sword, and launching it towards Audrey. I focused on victory, that was it. Just get any hits on her that I could. I caught my lance as it came back down, refocusing my efforts on the attacking water, not even paying attention to whether my sword hit or not.

_Audrey suddenly winced as she felt a stinging pain on her arm. She held her hand over the area and realized that she was bleeding. She willed the blood to return to its place inside her arm but saw that the cut was deep. She hadn't had a lot of practice with it, but she used the water in her body to her advantage as well as the blood, making it clot to stop the bleeding and then pulling her skin and muscle together again to help with the healing process. Just in case, she grabbed some bandages and wrapped them around her arm so that she wouldn't have to keep focusing on the injury. Luckily, she was still sitting in the infirmary watching over Lu, still unconscious after her big summoning stunt to get rid of the turtle thing._

_"You okay?" Emily asked, coming in with a glass of milk from the dining hall._

_"Yeah, fine. Just a cut that I must not have noticed until now. It's all patched up. And my jacket is all good. It's stain resistant as well as tear resistant - meaning that it's battle-ready. Guess the wound must've snuck up on me."_

_"You want some nectar?"_

_"Nah, it's not_ that _bad. Besides, we should be saving our resources. I'll be fine._ "

I dived into the shadows, and it felt much easier than normal, as though I was traveling through the ash itself and then appeared beside my sword. I sliced with my lance at Audrey from behind and caught her off guard. She turned and jumped back, but I still cut her side before she landed and held her hand over the wound, turning it to water to repair it.

_Audrey suddenly doubled over, falling out of her chair as she held her side, her hand coming away with blood. She concentrated and willed the blood to return to its place, turning her entire side into water so that it would heal faster._

_"Audrey, what's wrong?!" Emily panicked._

_"I_ _…I'm not sure."_

_She carefully returned her side into flesh again, the wound leaving a small scar, but it was sealed and relatively healed, the pain disappearing._

_"Something attacked me."_

_"Something invisible? Guys! Help! Invisible intruder! Infirmary!"_

_There was shuffling across the ship as the others got ready for a fight, some instantly rushing in their direction._

_"You think it's after Lu?" Emily asked._

_"It's pretty likely. We need to lead it out of here! Emily, guard Lu, you're invincible. I'll try and draw it away!"_

_Audrey ran out the door, shouting the plan to the others and having half of them stay with Emily in case the invisible monster didn't follow Audrey_.

I ducked under a whip of water before throwing my sword at Audrey. She quickly shifted her water to make a shield that caught the sword, but the Stygian iron started affecting her control over the water as it began to fall limp - the water dropping to the ground and no longer under Audrey's control. She dropped the sword on the ground in surprise, but the distraction was enough for me to chuck my lance as hard as I could at her, causing her entire water barrier to explode in all directions, knocking her back with the blast.

_Audrey was suddenly thrown backward in the opposite direction that she had been running. She was tossed into Leo behind her as though she had been hit by an explosion from a grenade, but there was nothing in front of her. She hadn't hit an invisible wall, as Jason was right in front of her and he would've run into it too._

_"What the hell was that?!" Leo demanded._

_Jason swung his sword at the empty air, trying to use his powers over the wind to sense any disturbances that may give away their intruder, but there was nothing. But Audrey began to see it. A shadowy figure, running towards her and jumping up with a lance prepared to strike. Audrey shoved Leo away as she herself rolled out of the range of the attack._

_She quickly got to her feet. "To the deck! We need more space!"_

_Jason and Leo were quick to follow her lead, sprinting up the stairs behind her, along with the shadowy figure that the boys couldn't see_.

I ran up, grabbed my lance, and jumped up to strike, but Audrey rolled out of the way and to her feet before she started running away, up one of the ash dunes. I grabbed my weapons and sprinted up after her. I was winning, that was all that mattered. All I had to do was win.

I caught up to her and tackled her across the ash-covered ground, but she swung her hand and a wave of water smacked me hard and off of her. She got to her feet and then froze her water into the shape of his lance.

"Come and get me, freak."

She spoke. Well, that was new.

I sprinted up and our weapons clashed, but I had more weight behind me and so she started sliding back. She twisted her weapon out of the clash, turning her weapon to water so that it passed right through mine before backing out of the way while I was off balance from her sudden withdrawal, and then she held up her lance to release a booming sonic roar that resembled the sound of a whale cry - except we weren't in water where sound was muffled, so it was 100 times stronger.

I was knocked off balance and thrown away, dropping my weapons to cover my ears. I looked around for anything that could help, but saw only ashes, vibrating from the intensity of the wave. She could turn this entire place into an unstable sandpit, like quicksand that I would sink into. She was destabilizing the ashes so that they couldn't hold weight on top of them, basically shaking a sifter so that I would fall through - as the heaviest thing left.

I covered one of my ears with my shoulder and then smashed my fist into the ashes, and to my surprise, they actually stabilized, conglomerating into a single mass and creating a platform beneath me. I could control these ashes, I realized. I had never even tried before, I only knew that I could turn things  _into_  ash; I had never even considered the possibility of controlling them with my powers, beyond kicking them around to spread them back when monsters were still capable of regenerating.

I waved my hand upwards and a wall formed in front of me, made from the ashes coming together, and with so many ashes all around us, the wall was thick enough to block out Audrey's blast, muffling it enough to be tolerable. I pounded the ground of dust, causing a pillar made of the ashes to rise right in front of Audrey, taking her by surprise and stopping her attack.

_A wall of tar formed in front of the shadowy figure, blocking out Audrey's attack from reaching it. Audrey had just enough time to be confused and then to start thinking up a new plan before she was suddenly attacked by a pillar of tar sprouting from her feet. It hit her right in the chin, tossing her back across the deck and causing her to hit her back against the railing, right on her spine. She turned herself into water in a panic, managing to preserve herself and prevent injury._

_Her water fell into the ocean, but she realized that she had a weapon right there, and a large one at that. She had only done this once before and she had been left completely debilitated afterward, but she knew that this was trouble._

_Jason ran below deck to get Frank for his dragon fire, while Leo was already trying to burn through the tar. But the fire wasn't working. The tar seemed immune to it. If the Kako were now attacking because Veon was gone, but they were somehow stronger than when Frank and the others had first fought them, Audrey knew that this wouldn't be an easy fight. Without a viable way to stop the Kako, their ship was doomed._

_Audrey focused on pulling all the nearby water in before transforming into a large water version of herself. She needed to sweep the Kako from the ship, along with the mysterious figure that no one else could see, all without harming the ship_.

I stared in awe as Audrey gathered water seemingly from thin air before turning into a 50-foot torso of herself. She swept her hand towards me and I dived out of the way desperately, watching as she destroyed my wall of ashes behind me. I remembered that she had done this before, feeling dumb for having forgotten about it.

Well, two could play at that game. I now had the ashes on my side. I pulled all of the ashes I could together, building a body around myself that resembled hers. Time for a battle of titans. Well, not  _the_  Titans, but…you know what I mean.

I reared back to punch her, and she recoiled before returning the favor. The ashes and the water didn't mix too well, our essences getting mixed together, and soon it turned into a battle where we were trying to tear each other apart from the inside out.

_The tar transformed into a giant Kako - just a body of tar from the torso and above, and Audrey had the fight of her life. It turned into a battle where she and the monster were both trying to tear each other apart with their respective colossuses. In the end, Audrey knew she was running out of power. She wouldn't be able to sustain herself for much longer. In a final, last-ditch attempt to save the crew, she dived inside the Kako and then spread her water body out in an explosion, ripping the Kako apart._

_Audrey barely managed to keep herself together, bringing her real body back and turning herself back into flesh and blood once more. She was breathing hard, seeing spots, but she noticed that the Kako tar was disappearing. She smiled and was ready to pass out when she saw that the shadowy figure had survived. She had honestly forgotten that it was there, that_ it _was what was controlling the Kako. And that no one could see it stalking towards her._

_"You did it, Audrey!"_

_She tried to scream for Leo to stay back, but her voice wouldn't come. She was out of energy, and even her panic wasn't enough to sustain her_.

I picked myself up from the explosion. Audrey was smart, diving her water body straight into my body made of ashes, destroying them both. But she was out of energy now, I knew that. I looked around, grabbing my lance as ashes rained down around me. Audrey wasn't too far away, and she looked ready to pass out. I had nearly won. I  _had_  won.

I picked up my sword on the way to her, sheathing it at my hip. I wouldn't need it anymore. I saw her, breathing hard, unable to even lift her head to look in my direction. As I approached, I lifted my lance above her.

_Audrey finally saw it. Through the shadows, she finally recognized the shape that was forming in the dark mist. The silhouette of her friend formed, the silhouette of Zytaveon. It was him that she had been fighting all along. Was this what happened to him? He switched places with Lu, and now Tartarus had him? Now, Tartarus had made him into this?_

_"Veon_ _…" Audrey choked out._

_The others panicked and looked around frantically, but they didn't see him._

_"What?" "He's here?" "Where?" "Is he doing this?" "How?"_

_"Ve_ _…it_ _…" Audrey reached out her hand for him. "_ _…i_ _t's me…stop…"_

_He raised his lance._

_"Please_ _…please, Veon, stop-!"_

_She didn't know that it would feel like this. She had imagined it before, but when she learned she could turn to water, it almost seemed like she was invincible in her own way. When she was run through, she could simply turn herself into water, feel the weapon soar right through her and she felt no pain because you couldn't hurt water. She could filter anything from mixing with her water, and it was so relaxing, being without a body, without fear, without pain._

_Now, she felt like everything was burning, yet everything was numb. She couldn't feel anything below her waist, and_ at _her waist, everything was pain, surging through the rest of her body on top of the exhaustion that had been consuming her before._   _She wanted to fix it. She wanted to make it all go away. But she didn't have the strength to heal herself, pull her blood back into place, dissolve into water, into her peace._

 _And then suddenly, she was. She was floating away, surrounded by the sea. It was quiet, it was warm but cool, and it was safe. It was where there were no battles or worries, no death or weight of the world, no confusion or anger or sadness. It was bliss, it was her heaven, it was death_.

Audrey dissolved into water as she died, sinking into the ashes and leaving nothing left. She had started talking at the end. But it was too late. I had already made my decision, and I was the victor.

I breathed hard. The battle was over. I won.

But the look on her face remained in my mind. She had stopped becoming a blank slate somewhere in the battle, and as I watched her die again and again in my head, a pit of guilt formed in my stomach. My hands shook as I looked at them, dropping my lance before I nearly fell over.

"I…I-I-I killed her."

Realization sunk in. It wasn't just a fake her, that was really Audrey. Somehow, the real her had formed throughout the fight. I had killed her while she begged me to stop,  _I_  had done this to her. Her body had faded away, but the pain remained. It was real. It was real. It was real.

"Good job, boy. You slaughtered her without a second thought. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe there  _is_  some cruelty in that heart of yours."

I looked up at the image of myself that was Order. "I…I t-thought it was a-an…I didn't know…"

Chuck gave a pitiful smile, an almost  _disappointed_  smile. "Now, now, Zytaveon, let's not be blue. You  _won_. You did it. I didn't think you could. You were perfect for Chaos, a little boy who just wanted to protect those he loved, a good heart, so pure and innocent, so perfect for her. Never in a million years would I have thought you'd be even  _close_  to being compatible with me. But underneath that innocent face, buried in your bones, you're a cruel little bastard, aren't you?"

My entire body seemed to fill with dread like my blood was freezing. I shook my head desperately. "N-No. No. No! No, I didn't mean to! I'm not…I didn't  _mean_  to!"

Chuck tilted his head with a smirk. "Say what you want, whatever makes you happy. This world? It brings out the truth in you. Somewhere, deep down, there's a ruthless part of you, a  _powerful_  part, that could swing either way. If it meant doing the right thing, would you kill a friend? How hard would you fight if someone dear to you was on the line? You see, I've seen it before. Maybe a loved one, maybe a little innocent child that you hardly know. Either way, there are certain scenarios where you  _will_  look your best friends in the eyes and put a weapon clean through them because they're threatening that innocent you're protecting. And sometimes, you just need to  _win_. Sometimes, you  _are_  in the right, and you  _tried_  being nice, but they pushed you  _just_  a little too much, and now that you've started, you just can't stop. It happens, dear child, and it's oh so amusing to watch."

"That's not who I am!" I snapped.

"It doesn't matter if that's what you believe. Because the only way out of here is to embrace every part of yourself, including the dark and dirty parts. Your heart is so… _pure_ , so clean, so blank and new and unmarred. But it's not perfect. A perfect soul is broken, shattered beyond recognition, and no matter how hard you try to put the pieces together, there  _is_  no going back. The moment you break something, there's no returning it to its former state. There's always those little parts that are lost forever, and even if you put the shards beside each other, they'll never fit perfectly together again. There are just some things you can't repair. You need to see what you are, and that's the only way you become compatible with me. If you don't learn to come to terms with this side of yourself, you will die and so will the world. So I hope you're happy. You choose this battle on your own, and now you either do this, or you give up everyone else in this world, including your oh-so-precious girlfriend."

I stared up at Chuck angrily, then looked down at the spot Audrey had disappeared at. That had really been her. I had killed my real friend. I'd never see her again, I'd never hear her jokes, her complaints about me or the rest of her friends, and I'd never have her by my side again as an ally in battle or just…a friend. An entire history of our friendship, wiped away in an instant, in a single moment that I desperately wished to take back.

And yet I would have to do it again and again with all of my friends, all of my loved ones. I thought about Emily, about the crew of the Argo II, about all my friends at Camp Half-Blood, hell, even some friends I had in the Underworld. If I killed them, would I never see them again, even in the Underworld? I would have to destroy their spirits, a fate worse than death. I thought about my adoptive parents, even my  _real_  parents. Would I have to go against my mom, who was just a memory? Or maybe she wasn't. Maybe she was still with me. Would I have to fight Hades? Despite our relationship, I still cared about him, and to some extent, I knew he cared about me.

Would I even have to kill Lu? Would I destroy everything that made her who she was, even if I didn't kill the part that was needed to sustain Chaos?

I knew the answer without even needed to ask. Yes. Yes to everything. I'd have to destroy it all and show how far I was willing to go for the world, just because it was the right thing to do.

Once, I'd read something about stories: the end of the world. In so many stories they talked about the end of the world, but it never meant much because it's hard to imagine the end of the world. But in reality, what really grips an audience isn't the end of the world, it's the end of  _your_  world. Friends you've bonded with and met, the family you love or even hate, the daily activities that you've become accustomed to. All of that was  _your_  world, the things you care about, the things that you can connect with and that you never want to lose.

I would have to choose between my world and the rest of the world. It was  _my_  world that I fought for every day, it was  _my_  world that I clung to when I thought about the future, why I needed to keep going, why I needed to keep fighting. My world was all I that I knew and cared for. If I lost that, what would be the point of going on?

But what about other peoples' worlds? All those people that I didn't know? What if all of them had the same thing that I did? Loved ones, friends, family, happiness, peace, contentment with your life even if it wasn't perfect? There were those suffering in the world, but that didn't mean the world deserved to die.

I couldn't breathe. I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to continue, I didn't want to lose my world. But my world would be gone anyway if I failed. At least this way, others' worlds would continue. There was no saving my world either way, but if I killed my world, the rest of it all would go on rather than it all being gone at once. It was still hard to comprehend, but I imagined the world burning, a feeling of hopelessness going out across every person, people I didn't know or care for, and I couldn't impart that burden upon them.

No one would ever know what I did, no one but the gods, and many would hate me for it. But all those humans out there? They never know what we do every day to protect them, they don't know what's out there, and they are bitter and mean and they walk down dark paths. They'd never even know they were supposed to be thankful. But though they'd have a few moments of humility before the end, it wasn't worth losing the rest of the world and its potential.

"I'll do it," I said quietly, already regretting it. "I'll do it, just get on with it already!"

Chuck gave a skeptical smile. I couldn't tell if he was proud or in disbelief that I'd actually do it.

He disappeared with a small whoosh, and then I heard a small voice of a girl.

"Veon?"

It was Emily.

* * *

First Person: Emily

"Audrey! Audrey, wake up! Audrey!"

Jason was performing CPR, Frank was holding his hands over her wound to prevent more blood loss, but it wasn't helping. Piper and I were shouting at her with charmspeak, but I didn't know if she could hear us anymore. Hazel was crying, Leo was supporting her because he was the nearest person who didn't know how he could be useful. Leo knew how to fix a machine. People were entirely different. Hazel could fight, she could summon gems, and maybe she'd learned a few things at Camp Jupiter, but Jason was the most knowledgeable and Frank was the first one there to help.

Hedge brought the nectar and ambrosia and Piper tried to give Audrey some, but she wouldn't swallow. Her emotions were fading, her  _life_  was fading, and I knew it. I knew it and I couldn't stop it.

"Audrey, come back! Don't leave us! Audrey!"

She was happy. She was content. She was leaving.

"Audrey, can you hear me? Stay with me! Hey!"

But she was already gone and we knew it.

"What happened?" Piper demanded.

"And invisible attacker, then the Kako monster, and then I guess the invisible guy came back while she was distracted with the Kako," I guessed.

"What about that thing she said about it being Veon?"

"That's impossible," Leo protested. "He's…he's gone. Right?"

"Yeah, but you know  _where_  he's gone," Frank pointed out. "What if…"

"Tartarus is using him to get to us?" I finished.

"We'll have to be vigilant," Jason declared. "If this happens to anyone else…we have to find a way to fight back."

" _How?_ " Hazel asked, crying. "Audrey was one of our strongest. And how can we fight against something we can't see, something that's so much more powerful?!"

"We'll find a way," He said firmly, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself more than anything.

Then, Audrey sat up gasping.

Everyone went into overdrive, helping her sit up against one of the masts, checking her wound, asking her a million questions at a time, and she just nodded at most things, trying to catch her breath. Her wound was healing itself, just like with what happened back at Camp Jupiter with Gwen.

"Audrey, what happened?" I finally asked.

She shook her head, still in shock. "I-I don't…there was these gates, and a giant dog with three heads - oh, Cerberus! - and then…then Thanatos and…I saw the judges, those three dudes with fancy names, and…then there was screaming. Two voices were overlapping, Death was trying to calm them down, and…I think it was Hades."

"Hades?" Leo repeated.

She nodded. "He kept screaming to…to ' _Get her out_.'"

"You?" Jason asked.

"I think so. Because after Death began to try and calm Hades…o-or Pluto, or  _both_  of them, fighting against each other…after that, I just…I woke up."

"So Death let you go…but  _why_ _?_ " Frank asked. "What would make Pluto so angered that he wouldn't accept you into the Underworld?"

"Nothing good," Piper answered.

"Emily, take Audrey to the infirmary and check her out," Jason ordered. "Frank, go with them. If the ghost thing starts acting up again…"

Frank nodded. I helped Audrey to her feet as we made our way down the stairs. There seemed to be nothing wrong with Audrey, and we tested all her powers to see if they were working. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally, but she was otherwise unharmed. Took her to change her blood-stained clothes and then left her for a few minutes in private in her room so she could change. When I went to check on her, I saw her staring at herself in the mirror.

"Audrey?"

She jumped with a small gasp, realizing that it was me behind her.

"You okay?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah…fine. I think."

I wanted to prod since this was  _me_  we were talking about, the ship counselor, but Frank shouted from the hallway: "Everything okay?"

"Yeah! We're fine!" Audrey answered for me.

She walked past me to Frank and then headed to the mess hall for some food.

I stared at Audrey as she walked away. What had she seen in that mirror when she looked at herself?


	23. It's Not Lu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at how fast this came out! Whoooooa!
> 
> Literally reading about that section with Octavian made me want to scrap my future plans for him and just slaughter the guy right now. So, I opted to instead just skip over writing about that part and move on.
> 
> The title of this chapter shows my incidental usage of…well, you'll see. I swear it was accidental though. I planned each perspective separately before I even put them on the page.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> :)

First Person: Audrey

It was a relatively quiet morning.

The others insisted that I take it easy, and I had no complaints. Nico did stare at me for a while, telling me that I should be dead, that I smelled like death, that I had gone to the Underworld, but he had no answers as to what happened. He just knew that things had to be bad if his dad was freaking out about me. He didn't say it, but I knew that he was sensing something bad from me. He probably didn't say anything because he himself didn't know.

I had a big meal before hanging out in my water bed. It wasn't a very big space, but it was nice.

I swam up and down, around and around, but something felt off.

The water felt colder, less…lively, comforting. The walls of my waterbed had a slight reflection at the edges, and though I could see through them, I felt protected, in my own little world.

I floated upside down, closing my eyes to try and forget.

I had seen  _something_  in the mirror, a version of me that I couldn't stand to look at yet couldn't look away from. She was rotten and bleeding, stabbed through the chest, neck broken and head falling to the side, mouth wide open in a scream that had to have resulted in a broken jaw. One eye was melted, a part of a rotting brain and skull exposed, a hand of dislocated fingers, and elbow bent the wrong way, and some diseases piled on that I probably couldn't name all of. There were burns and charred bits; there were frozen blue parts. It seemed as though every method of execution that was conceivable had been combined all into one and then aged like the body had been dead for a while as well as every blemish emphasized heavily like in a movie or a horror TV show.

Now, I had seen some scary things in my life - the film industry has tried many a times to scare me. Just watch a few episodes of Fringe and be creeped out yet gripped. Or maybe The Haunting of Hill House, that one was great. I guess the Walking Dead would work pretty well, but I started to get kinda tired of that show at some point. Like, there are zombies. Cool. Hey, they're rotting. Whoa. Didn't see that coming. Oh, look, another guy's dead. No, stop, that's a  _stupid_  decision. You're dead. You so deserved it. Why are we fighting? Can't we all just work together? You're all idiots. Hey, look, more zombies. Didn't see that coming. Come on, guys, it's not  _that_  scary. Uh, guys, that zombie could come alive any…yup, saw that coming. You should be deaf with how often you're using those guns without headphones. No  _wonder_  these slow-shuffling zombies sneak up on you fools.

Sorry, tangent.

Anyway, my point is that the Walking Dead zombies aren't that scary once you've seen a couple hundred of them and you get over it. In horror shows, things start to become predictable. There was just something about seeing myself with so many injuries that were just unnatural enough to be unsettling mixed together that left me haunted, the image burned into my mind.

Then, there was the screaming.

I remembered my death experience, but my memory was a bit hazy, like a dream. I remember seeing Thanatos and being confused about why he was there, but not scared. He told me to follow him, and I did. I walked past Cerberus and I was disappointed that I didn't have some cake to give him - as I'd read that he liked cake in some myths. I followed Thanatos, knowing that I should even though I didn't know why.

When I reached the judges, I remembered the legend about them. Two were brothers, children of Zeus and a girl - what was it? The girl who they named Europe after? Europa? - when Zeus turned himself into a…bull? It's best not to think too hard about these kind of things. Anyway, it was the one that started with an R which was long and complicated and Minos - that guy who was the king in the Daedalus labyrinth myth with the Minotaur.

I waited to be judged, excited, maybe slightly nervous, but not enough to destroy the mood, and I remembered that Veon was a judge as well. Maybe I'd see him. Then again, he'd be pretty biased when looking at my case, so that probably wouldn't be a good idea. But if I ever made it to Elysium,  _then_  maybe he'd visit.

As I was thinking this, there was a disturbance with the trio of judges, and I suddenly heard screaming. I covered my ears and ducked down, but it didn't help. It seemed to pierce my mind, a terrifying feeling of confusion, pain,  _agony_ , beyond anything I could ever imagine. And a feeling that something was wrong with me, a panic that I shouldn't be there, that I didn't belong  _anywhere_.

" **GET HER OUT! GET HER OUT, THANATOS! I SAID GET HER OUT!** "

"My Lord, you must return to your chambers-"

" **HAVE YOU GONE DEAF?! I SAID GET HER OUT!** "

And then I woke up, alive. The haze on my mind had disappeared and left me with this heavy weight in my chest. Death took everything away, the fear, the pain, the responsibility, and the overall burden of life itself. It was like when you went without exercising for a while and find that you can't lift something that you could back before your hiatus - except this was an instant loss of strength. Where once I could hold the weight of my feelings and emotions no problem, suddenly they had all been stripped away from me and they were never supposed to be given back. But when they were, they were crushing.

I had used my free time to try and come to grips with my regular state again, but something had been crushed under that weight when it had returned to me, something had been broken and lost to me, and I didn't know what it was. What I  _did_  know was that it was something vital to me and I felt like there was something wrong with me.

All of my powers were working, that was all good. All my limbs were still there, and beyond my initial exhaustion, I was physically A-Okay.

I opened my eyes and looked at he slowly shifting water. Time seemed to be frozen in the water, and while it was normally relaxing for me, there was a hint of unease that refused to leave me alone.

For a moment, I thought I saw her again: that rotting corpse of a woman that was supposed to be me. A girl who had died of everything at once, who stared at me and told me that I didn't belong without a word.

I waved my water to attack, pushing myself back at the same time to put distance between me and her. I ended up falling out of my waterbed and onto my head since gravity suddenly took over at full effect. I rolled to be upright again, staring through the water for her, but she wasn't there. I took a small bit of water from my waterbed and put it on my head in the shape of an icepack to heal the hit from my fall.

I couldn't stay here, I decided. Being alone was driving me crazy. But if I went to the others, they'd probably notice that there was something off about me. I didn't want them to worry about me. This had to just be some side effects of being dead, hallucinations. Hopefully they'd go away soon enough. Even if they didn't, what was there to be done? Only Veon would have a clue about what to do, but he wasn't here.

I decided to go down to the stables to see if Ariel was there. Arion wasn't one to be cooped up, but Zoltan came and went in his flashy way. Who knows where Vrontí was, but the storm spirit seemed loyal enough to Lu. No offense to Jason, but it seemed that he and Tempest had more of a passive-aggressive relationship than Lu and Vrontí.

I made it to the stables and my horse appeared, forming from a sentient puddle of water. I ran my hand along her back. "Hey, girl."

She bobbed her head casually. " _Sup?_ "

I chuckled. She was a nice horse who shared my powers and personality with her own little flare. So far, we'd gotten along very well.

"Do you know what happened to me?"

Ariel snorted. " _You got stabbed and survived, end of story._ "

I frowned. "Thanks for the concern."

She nuzzled my neck. " _I was very worried about you, little one. You are strong to have lived, but more challenges lie in your future. I will be here for you the entire way._ "

I smiled and grabbed one of the brushes from the little bin that held some supplies to tend to the horses with (you know, brushes, little sprayers and scrubs for giving the horse a bath, saddles, hooves, etc. Leo had been very thorough) and started brushing her mane.

"Thank you, Ariel."

She shook her head so that her mane flew out. " _It's nothing. Your father made me for that purpose. But I already felt a connection with you when we met. Same with Zoltan and the death kid. They were meant to be together, they just didn't know it until they met. Also that Hazel girl and Arion._ "

I ran my fingers through her soft hair. "Can you tell me, Ariel. What did I see?"

She paced in thought. " _I can't really say. Death, that is all I know. Death of the past, death of the future. Death beyond measure._ "

" _My_  death, you mean?"

" _No. And yes. It's confusing. It's like so many deaths, all together and implanting themselves on you._ "

"Implanting?"

" _Like I said, confusing. Hard to explain. You aren't dead, you never died, and yet all of these deaths are yours._ "

"So what I saw was a bunch of ways that I die?"

"Died _, but yes. In essence._ "

"Died? As in, past tense?"

" _Past deaths, future deaths, everything's all jumbled up. I'm just a daughter of the sea god. Death isn't my forte._ "

I nodded, staring at the horse's flank. "Thanks for  _trying_  to explain, Ariel."

Even in the future I wouldn't remember how it happened. Ariel can't explain it either. I felt as though I blinked and I was suddenly standing at the prow of the ship, staring out at the sea.

"You know, it's a funny thing, death."

I gasped to realize that Lu was sitting on the railing of the ship, twisting a drachma in her fingers.

"H-How are you here?" I stuttered. "Weren't you in the…?"

"Do you know what it feels like?" Lu asked, staring out at the sea.

"What?" I asked.

"Being torn in half, pulled apart by two horses walking in opposite directions?"

I suddenly saw the ghostly me, flickering in the distance on the water. Her wrists were bound together above her head, her ankles bound together beneath her. She was screaming, and I didn't have to guess what was happening to her.

"W-Why are you doing this?" I demanded.

Lu turned her head to look at me. "Doing what?"

I waved at the ghost of me while also trying to avoid looking at her. I heard her arms and legs dislocating and wanted to throw up. I felt woozy and wanted to sit down, but I couldn't show weakness in front of this…this thing. Whatever it was, it couldn't be my friend.

"I did nothing, dear child. You are a mistake, and now you are carrying the other mistakes that have been left before you."

"Mistake?"

"What do you think happens when someone leaves the Underworld when they shouldn't? When someone refuses to go, or when someone is forcefully kicked out - a rare case, but it holds the same result."

"Uh…ghosts?" I guessed.

She nodded. "The spirits are trapped in limbo, not alive, but not fully dead yet either. Without bodies to anchor them, a soul is lost, trapped in its past and trapped within a cycle of insanity. In most cases, they are stuck in the moment of their death. But that is just in the case of those who never make it to the Underworld because of a desire to be heard - an unholy death. But you? You were kicked out. The Underworld didn't want you, or more accurately, it couldn't stand your presence."

She hopped off the railing and walked over to me.

"You see, you are one of those rare beyond rare cases. Now, it may be because of Hades and Pluto being a bit out of sorts, but it doesn't really matter _why_  it's happening - it just matters what the result is."

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"Just a ghost, obviously. I'm a mistake, just like the rest that you harbor."

"Harbor?"

She smiled. "Dear child, do you think that you escaped the Underworld  _alone?_  You caused quite a ruckus down there, a lot of pain for Hades/Pluto as well as Thanatos - the one left in charge while the real lord is incapacitated. Just one little distraction was all it took."

"For?"

She looked me in the eye with an almost coy expression. "You brought with you a  _lot_  of 'mistakes,' darling. So many, clinging to you like a lifeline because you can't be brought back to the Underworld and therefore neither can we. But being outside of the Underworld when you're not supposed to be isn't very good for your health. What a lot of those 'mistakes' didn't realize when they hitched a ride is that this world doesn't like the dead being here when they shouldn't be. So, instead of returning with their wits, they've been turned into the classic ghosts you're familiar with - trapped in their moments of death or simply unable to think straight. Or some  _are_  able to think straight, but not in a good way."

"Why you? Why take Lu's form?"

She turned to look at the sea. "I'm an entity all on my own, born of the many mistakes that fall under my jurisdiction. In laymen's terms, I am all of the mistakes from your little friend. A chosen one of the most ancient Primordials, a daughter of the god all other gods loath and fear. Oh yes, that girl has a  _lot_  of mistakes. And we are all with you now."

She disappeared and the me that was behind her was suddenly much closer, screaming as she was torn apart. Her skin was the last thing to break, being the most flexible, and her entrails fell into the sea. I covered my ears, I squeezed my eyes shut, I tried to block out the smell, but it was horrifying. She was ripped apart alive, and there was no way to describe the terror of simply witnessing it, let alone the phantom feeling that was spreading across me simply from the  _idea_  of it being planted in my head.

"Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!"

"Audrey!"

I was jerked back and pulled across the deck. The ghost was gone, the world was back to normal. I realized it was Jason who had moved me and I worried that he had just caught me going insane, but a quick glance to assess the situation showed me that it was a pack of storm spirits attacking the ship.

"Take cover," Jason ordered. "I'll handle this. You shouldn't be out and about after what happened to you."

"I was just getting some air," I said.

"Lemme handle these guys and maybe you can get some non-hostile air. I hear it's good for the soul."

I managed a smile at the bad attempt at a joke. I understood what he was trying to get at, but he wasn't as good as Percy or Leo when it came to on-the-fly humorous remarks.

I made my way to the stairs leading below deck while Jason flew up to fight the storm spirits. Kaze ran past me to the deck while Leo was sounding the alarm. Piper quickly threw out "Hey, Audrey, you okay?" as she ran to the deck too. I nodded so that she could be on her way, and she threw me a thumbs up.

I took a deep breath and tried to get a hold of myself. Mistakes. I had mistakes inside me, huh? Escaped souls from the Underworld? I guess that was the best way to describe them. Maybe people from Punishment that had tried to escape with me. I mean, I saw a version of me with a broken neck - suicide. Then there was the one that was torn in half - that was a version of torture/execution back in the day, right? People who had done bad things, or maybe these were simply souls who didn't know any better and jumped aboard the ride for no reason, now forced to relive their deaths again and again inside me.

I found myself standing outside of the infirmary where Emily was watching over Lu.

Lu had 'mistakes?' As in, deaths? A lot of them? Then again, she performed that stunt because of her mother - the one where the closer to death she became, the more of a power boost she got. Maybe she had some near-death experiences where her mom's power saved her time and time again. That would make sense, right?

Emily had fallen asleep at Lu's beside, and I carefully slipped inside to lie on one of the other beds. I couldn't sleep in my own room, so maybe I could say that I wanted to stay here after what happened with my near-death experience. Hell, I could say that one of the storm spirits attacked me before Jason had gotten to me. It'd be easy to play off without them knowing the truth.

I laid down and was prepared to get some sleep despite my restless nerves. I was exhausted - especially when I wasn't sleeping in my waterbed - but I knew that my dreams weren't going to be good. I had a ton of ghosts in me, and demigod dreams weren't very good in general. Still, I  _needed_  rest right now.

Just as I was about to fall asleep though, I thought I saw some kind of white mist consuming the two girls. I was so close to unconsciousness that I couldn't be sure that I hadn't imagined it. Anyway, I fell into the world of my dreams a moment later, so I didn't remember that I had seen it in the first place.

Oh well, it must not have been important.

* * *

First Person: Zytaveon

I knew there was no chance at beating Emily with weapons, but I also knew that I had to distract myself. Her words wouldn't be as powerful as Piper's, but they were more subtle in their manipulation. You couldn't tell when she activated her charmspeak and when she was simply talking. It was like whispers in your head, suggestions that you thought were yours. Piper's charmspeak was more potent, piercing, and your own thoughts were near completely drowned out, which could often set off alarms to those who could resist charmspeak - once you realized you were being manipulated, you could fight back. If you never know what thought it yours and which is a suggestion, you'd be able to fight back against nothing.

"Veon, we need to get out of here."

The truth, but not entirely.

I sent a wave of ashes at her. The only way to get to an invincible was through their insides. You can't stop a wave of ashes from getting in your system.

 _Emily was sleeping in the infirmary; she wasn't even conscious when it began. She couldn't breathe, and she thought it was her dream. She thought she'd be able to breathe if she just concentrated hard enough. But after a few seconds, it still wasn't working. She was panicking in her sleep, but she couldn't wake up. Or maybe she had woken up, but her vision was going black_.

"Stop."

I looked up in surprise and saw Lu, staring at me from a small distance away.

I wasn't done with Emily yet. Why was she here? Wasn't this supposed to just be one at a time? But why would she want me to stop with Emily? Or was this a part of the test?

She walked up to me and pulled me away from Emily gently, pulling my hand down from the attack. "You can't do this."

"Do what?" I asked.

"These are your friends, little witch.  _We_  are your friends. Your heart cannot be tainted by these acts."

"I…I don't understand."

She pulled me close and rested my forehead against hers, her eyes closing. I suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion and my eyes fell shut as well. I wanted to rest, I wanted to just relax, I wanted to stop and just lie next to her in silence.

"You cannot be allowed to conquer these trials, little witch."

I finally realized where I'd heard 'Little witch' before. The only ones who called me that were the Primordials.

I opened my eyes to see that hers were open as well, midnight black and filled with the darkness of screaming souls, and I knew that this wasn't Chuck.

"I may have made a mistake, but I will not let it happen again."

And then I was punched into a bed.

I woke up gasping in a bed, which I realized was rocking slightly from the waves beneath. I was on a ship, I was in the Argo II, I was in the infirmary.

I looked around to find Emily lying half on the bed, half on a chair. I carefully moved her onto the infirmary bed, filled with my own exhaustion but more concerned with her health. She was pale and her breathing was ragged, but she was alive and breathing all the same. I looked around for some nectar and gave her a little, hoping that it would help.

I noticed Audrey was lying on one of the other infirmary beds and froze. I stared for a long moment, but noticed that she didn't have any blood on her. I cautiously approached, but she appeared to be okay. She twitched in her sleep and rolled over, and I realized she  _was_  alive. I was on the verge of poking her awake just to confirm it.

Then the ship lurched to the side and I heard screaming on deck from the others.

" _Mister Veon?_ "

I jumped and saw a green glowing girl floating beside me, a ghost.

I blinked. "Uh…y-yes?"

" _Mistress Reyna wishes to deliver a message: Annabeth's message has been received. I'm coming to the ancient lands. Be warned that Octavian is now in charge of the legion while I am away, and he knows that the harpy Ella has memorized the Sibylline Books. We've very little time and so few options, but I will bring the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood for the sake of peace with the knowledge that we face too great a threat to be destroying each other just as Gaea wants._ "

"Annabeth's message…you mean it made it?"

She nodded. " _Yes. Rachel Elizabeth Dare and Grover Underwood delivered the note to the Romans and Reyna has decided to come to take the statue back to Camp Half-Blood. It is foretold by the Oracle of Delphi. To face the ghosts in the House of Hades, you will need an army. There is only one place where you can find that sort of help. I am told Jason Grace shall know the location_."

There was screaming above deck, particularly Piper's screaming.

"Thank you for this information. You're one of Lu's Curses, right?"

She nodded. " _Yes, sir, but I am at your disposal by her command. We are the Curses, able to distort history and fate, born of a punishment for helplessness. You will never be helpless again, so every action could have been avoided. You have no excuses for failure, dear boy._ "

She disappeared, dissolving into the air like the mist she was.

I ran upstairs to the others, finding everyone surrounding Jason.

" _Veon-san?_ "

Kaze was the first to notice me, and everyone else looked up.

"Hi guys," I muttered.

"Veon?" Hazel asked carefully.

"Yeah. I'm back."

There was a moment of silence.

"I think it's time for a meeting," Frank said. "Who's up for breakfast?"

* * *

First Person: Kaze

Jason pulled Leo aside and suggested a course correction. Fortunately, Leo trusted him enough not to ask why.

"Weird vacation spot." Leo grinned. "But, hey, you're the boss!"

Veon had been sitting in the mess hall, waiting for the others to arrive. Emily seemed to have been passed out, and Veon guessed that it was because she had helped him and Lu switch. Somehow, Emily acted as a connection between the two Primordials of Order and Chaos. Weird.

He explained that he had a dream about killing Audrey, and was horrified to learn that it might not have been just a dream. Audrey was woken up, looking pretty exhausted, but she insisted that she was awake when she heard that Veon was back. Now, the two of them were in the same room, staring at each other like they had so much to say but didn't want to say it with the rest of us present.

"People don't just come back from the dead, Audrey," I heard him mutter.

"Your dad seemed pretty freaked out by me."

He stared at her. "Yeah, I'm getting some…bad vibes from you. Can I…give you a check up later? In private."

She nodded. "Yes that…that'd be great."

He nodded, and if I didn't know any better, I would've thought the tension between them was relationship-based. It better not be. Onesan loved him, and if he broke her heart, I would turn him inside out.

Jason meanwhile looked like he'd had a ton of coffee. His hands were jittery and he couldn't stop tapping his feet. Basically it was like being me or Leo - except Leo had a sense of humor. Jason had apparently forgotten to hold his breath while fighting some wild venti that had attacked the ship. When a wind spirit disintegrates, it creates a vacuum. Unless you're holding your breath, the air gets sucked right out of your lungs. The pressure in your inner ears drops so fast, you black out. Jason had passed out in midair, had a dream about the Oracle of Delphi, Rachel Dare, and Grover Underwood - a satyr - visiting the Romans to inform them that they had gotten a message from Annabeth in Tartarus.

"Yeah, we tried sending a message through the altar of Hermes," Veon confirmed. "It seemed that food burned at our camp meals got sent to the altars, and somehow Hermes's ended up in Tartarus of all places. We took a gamble that it worked backwards as well."

Veon tried his best to explain his experience in Tartarus, but he seemed very shaken.

Jason then explained having his dream about Reyna agreeing to leave the legion under Octavian's control for their sake to meet them in the ancient lands. The group was quiet long enough for Coach Hedge to finish a peanut butter and banana sandwich, along with the ceramic plate.

The ship creaked as it sailed through the Adriatic, its remaining oars still out of alignment from the giant turtle attack. Every once and a while Festus the figurehead creaked and squeaked through the speakers, reporting the autopilot status in his weird machine language that only Leo and I could understand.

"You guys got a message through." Piper shook her head in amazement. "I don't see how it's possible that you guys got a message to Camp Half-Blood, but-"

"They're alive, that's all that matters," Leo said. "Thank the gods and pass the hot sauce."

Frank frowned. "What does that mean?"

Leo wiped the chip crumbs off his face. "It means pass the hot sauce, Zhang. I'm still hungry."

Frank slid over a jar of salsa. "I can't believe Reyna would try to find us. It's taboo, coming to the ancient lands. She'll be stripped of her praetorship."

"If she lives," Hazel said. "It was hard enough for us to make it this far with 11 to 12 demigods and a warship."

"And me." Coach Hedge belched. "Don't forget, cupcake, you got the  _satyr_  advantage."

I had to smile. Coach Hedge could be pretty ridiculous, but I  _was_  warming up to him. I'd met other satyrs before, and this description of Grover Underwood couldn't have seemed more different. They both seemed brave in their own way, all the same. According to the others, the Roman fauns were nothing like the Greek satyrs, but who knows? Maybe if the Romans expected more from them, they could clean up their acts.

Jason seemed to be making a list of ways to make Camp Jupiter more…well, Greek. Growing up under those rules had to have been hard, but once he became praetor, surely he could make changes. He had told the story of suggesting changing the legion's name to be the First Legion rather than the Twelfth Legion to symbolize a new start for Rome, but the idea had almost caused a mutiny. New Rome was all about traditions and legacies; the rules didn't change easily. After this big war though, if we all survived, surely they'd have to realize that change was necessary for their survival. If they didn't change, they'd be doomed for sure.

Jason was the underdog from the losers of the Fifth Cohort, he was a guy that a lot of the Romans looked up to. Once all of this was resolved, I'd like to see him doing something useful with his life and fixing this broken world. Camp Half-Blood had definitely taught him something about himself - a taste of freedom certainly changed your view on things, I would know.

I felt bad for this Reyna person. She had good intentions, but there was just so much weight on her shoulders and this Octavian dude was taking advantage of the fact that she couldn't be in two places at once, that war seemed to be a more reasonable approach to the world rather than peace. This definitely wasn't going to be easy.

"Jason?" Leo asked. "Argo II to Jason. Come in."

Jason realized that his friends were looking at him expectantly. They needed reassurance. He knew the legion, he knew Reyna. Whether or not he made it back to New Rome after the war, Jason was a leader of the Argo II now all the same. He was a praetor of this ship still, not leading alone, but not a follower either.

"Yeah, sorry." He touched the groove that Sciron the bandit had cut in his hair. "Crossing the Atlantic is a hard journey, no doubt. But I'd never bet against Reyna. If anyone can make it, she will."

Piper circled her spoon through her soup. Jason was still a little nervous about her getting jealous of Reyna, but when she looked up, she gave him a dry smile that seemed more teasing than insecure.

"Well, I'd  _love_  to see Reyna again," She said. "But how is she supposed to find us?"

Frank raised his hand. "Can't you just send her an Iris-message?"

"They're not working very well," Coach Hedge put in. "Horrible reception. Every night, I swear, I could  _kick_ that rainbow goddess…"

He faltered. His face turned bright red.

"Coach?" Leo grinned. "Who have you been calling every night, you old goat?"

"No one!" Hedge snapped. "Nothing! I just meant-"

"He means we've already tried," Hazel intervened, and the coach gave her a grateful look. "Some magic is interfering…maybe Gaea. Contacting the Romans is even harder. I think they're shielding themselves."

I looked from Hazel to the Coach. What was up with  _them?_  Now that I thought about it, the coach hadn't mentioned his cloud nymph girlfriend Mellie in a long time…

Frank drummed his fingers on the table. "I don't suppose Reyna has a cell phone…? Nah. Nevermind. She'd probably have bad reception on a pegasus flying over the Atlantic."

I thought about the journey that we'd made over the Atlantic. One person making that trip alone might make her faster, less of a target, but it would also be infinitely more challenging. I couldn't decide whether it was terrifying or awe-inspiring.

"She'll find us," Jason declared.

"Electronics attract monsters anyway," I said. "You need special ones that I doubt you hold at your Jupiter Camp."

Everyone stared.

"No offense."

Jason shook his head. "Look, Reyna mentioned something in the dream - she's expecting me to go to a certain place on our way to the House of Hades. I…I'd forgotten about it, actually, but she's right. It's a place I need to visit."

Piper leaned towards him, her caramel braid falling over her shoulder. Her multicolored eyes seemed to hypnotize Jason. Lucky stiff. Piper I mean, not Jason.

"And where is this place?" She asked.

"A…uh, a town called Split."

"Split," She repeated, but Jason still seemed too distracted by her to elaborate.

"Um, yeah."

She smelled like blooming honeysuckle. Why did girls always smell like stuff? Was it perfume? Or did they, like, sweat pheromones? Maybe it was a child of Aphrodite thing - like maybe every time he mentioned Reyna's name, she would befuddle him so much he couldn't think about anything but Piper. It wasn't the worst sort of revenge in the world.

"In fact, we should be getting close. Leo?"

Leo punched the intercom button. "How's it going up there, buddy?"

Festus the figurehead creaked and steamed.

"Maybe ten minutes to the harbor," I reported.

"I still don't get why you want to go to Croatia, especially a town called _Split_ ," Leo said. "I mean, you name your city  _Split_ , you gotta figure it's a warning to, you know,  _split_. Kind of like naming your city ' _Get Out!_ '"

"Wait," Hazel said. "Why are we going to Croatia?"

I noticed that the others were reluctant to meet her eyes. Since her trick with the Mist against Sciron the bandit, even Jason seemed a little nervous around her. It wasn't very fair to Hazel. It was hard enough being a child of Pluto, but she'd pulled off some  _serious_  magic on that cliff. And afterward, according to Hazel, Pluto himself had appeared to her. That was something Romans apparently called a  _bad omen_. Gods appearing were never good, that was for sure. Veon had had a small discussion with Hazel congratulating her on her success, and offered to give her some proper lessons now that she had broken her first barrier of learning to tap into and control the Mist. It had seemed to make her relax a bit.

Leo pushed his chips and hot sauce aside. "Well, technically we've been in Croatian territory for the past day or so. All the coastline we've been sailing is  _it_ , but I guess back in the Roman times it was called…what'd you say, Jason? Bodacious?"

"Dalmatia," Nico said, making Jason jump.

You know, we really  _should_  considering putting a bell around Nico di Angelo's neck to remind us that the guy was there. Nico had this disturbing habit of standing silently in the corner, blending into the shadows. Even Veon wasn't that anti-social, though he could sometimes do the same thing.

He stepped forward, his dark eyes fixed on Jason. Since we'd rescued him from the bronze jar in Rome, Nico had slept very little and eaten even less, as if he were still subsisting on those emergency pomegranate seeds from the Underworld. He reminded me a little too much of a flesh-eating ghoul I'd once fought.

"Croatia used to be Dalmatia," Nico said. "A major Roman province. You want to visit Diocletian's Palace, don't you?"

"The Palace of Diocletian? I have been there," I announced.

"You  _have?_ " Veon asked.

I shrugged. "I went around this land much when I was young. There was not much to do. Famous places were easy to break into. Old places may hold treasures. Onesan said this was a palace, so we went in."

Coach Hedge managed another heroic belch. " _Whose_  palace? And is Dalmatia where those Dalmatian dogs come from? That 101 Dalmatians movie - I still have nightmares."

Frank scratched his head. "Why would you have nightmares about that?"

Coach Hedge looked like he was about to launch into a major speech about the evils of cartoon Dalmatians, but Jason decided that he didn't want to know.

"Nico is right," He said. "I need to go to Diocletian's Palace. It's where Reyna will go first, because she knows  _I_  would go there."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "And why would Reyna think that? Because you've always had a mad fascination with Croatian culture?"

Jason stared at his uneaten sandwich. It seemed hard for him to talk about his life before Hera - or Juno, I guess - wiped his memory. His years at Camp Jupiter must've seemed made up, like a movie he'd acted in decades before. I knew that was how _I_  felt after I had died and come back.

"Reyna and I used to talk about Diocletian," Jason explained. "We both kinda idolized the guy as a leader. We talked about how we'd like to visit Diocletian's Palace. of course we knew that was impossible. No one could travel to the ancient lands. But still, we made this pact that if we ever  _did_ , that's where we'd go."

"Diocletian…" Leo considered the name, then shook his head. "I got nothing. Why was he so important?"

Frank looked offended. "He was the last great pagan emperor!"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised you know that, Zhang?"

"Why wouldn't I? He was the last one who worshipped the Olympian gods, before Constantine came along and adopted Christianity."

Hazel nodded. "I remember something about that. The nuns at St. Agnes taught us that Diocletian was a huge villain, right along with Nero and Caligula." She looked askance at Jason. "Why would you idolize him?"

"He wasn't a  _total_  villain," Jason argued. "Yeah, he persecuted Christians, but otherwise he was a good ruler. He worked his way up from nothing by joining the legion. His parents were former slaves…or at least his  _mom_  was. Demigods know he was a son of Jupiter - the last demigod to rule Rome. He was also the first emperor to retire, like,  _peacefully_ , and give up his power. He was from Dalmatia, so he moved back there and built a retirement palace. The town of Split grew up around…"

He faltered when he looked at Leo, who was mimicking taking notes with an air pencil.

"Go on, Professor Grace!" He said, wide-eyed. "I wanna get an A on the test."

"Shut up, Leo."

I threw my Neko at him, the cat forming in the air and landing in Leo's hair, causing him to panic as the robotic cat clung to him and bit him, pulling out a couple strands.

"Ah! Get it  _off_  me! Get it  _off!_ "

"I like Diocletian. He is cool."

"Point  _taken!_  Now get it  _off!_ "

"Neko."

The cat jumped off Leo and walked across the table to my hand, crawling up my arm and to my shoulder.

Piper sipped another spoonful of soup like nothing had happened. "So why is Diocletian's Palace so special?"

Nico leaned over and plucked a grape from Veon's bowl of them. Probably that was the guy's entire diet for the day. "It's said to be haunted by the ghost of Diocletian."

"Who was a son of Jupiter like me," Jason said. "His tomb was destroyed centuries ago, but Reyna and I used to wonder if we could find Diocletian's ghost and ask where he was buried…well, according to the legends, his scepter was buried with him."

Nico gave him a thin, creepy smile. "Ah… _that_  legend."

"What legend?" Hazel asked.

Nico turned to his sister. "Supposedly Diocletian's scepter could summon the ghosts of the Roman legions, any of them who worshipped the old gods."

Leo whistled. "Okay, _now_  I'm interested. Be nice to have a booty-kicking army of pagan zombies on our side when we enter the House of Hades."

"Not sure I would've put it that way," Jason muttered. "But yeah."

"We don't have much time," Veon warned. "It's already July ninth. We have to get to Epirus, close the Doors of Death-"

"Which are guarded," Hazel murmured. "By a smoky giant and a sorceress who wants…" She hesitated. "Well, I'm not sure. But according to Pluto, she plants to 'rebuild her domain.' Whatever that means, it's bad enough that my dad felt like warning me personally."

"Your dad seems to be foreshadowing a  _lot_  of things," Audrey muttered.

Frank grunted. "And if we survive all that, we still have to find out where the giants are waking Gaea and get there before the first of August. Besides, the longer Percy and Annabeth and…well, one of you chosen guys…are in Tartarus…"

"I know," Jason said. "We won't take long in Split. But looking for the scepter is worth a try. While we're at the palace, I can leave a message for Reyna, letting her know the route we're taking for Epirus."

Nico nodded. "The scepter of Diocletian could make a huge difference. You'll need my help."

Jason tried not to show his discomfort, but his skin prickled at the thought of going anywhere with Nico di Angelo. And really, who could blame him? The stories about Nico weren't exactly comforting. His loyalties weren't always clear. He spent more time with the dead than the living. Once, he'd lured Percy into a trap in the palace of Hades. Maybe Nico had made up for that by helping the Greeks against the Titans, but still…

Then again, he'd been through a lot. I also heard about the little detail surrounding Nico's sister dying despite Percy's promise to protect her. It must've taken a lot for Nico to help Percy in that fight against the Titans. If it were  _my_  sister, I may have never forgiven the person responsible for failing to protect her. I probably still haven't forgiven this crew for taking her away, but I had to believe that this wasn't over yet.

"I can go too," Veon offered. "I need to get out into the real world."

"Veon-" Hazel began.

"No. I need a regular old mission with a regular old ghost and a regular old challenge with the regular old dead. I need the world to start making  _sense_."

Piper squeezed Jason's hand. "Well I think it's a good idea. Sounds fun. I'll go too."

Jason looked like he wanted to yell ' _Thank the gods!_ '

But Nico shook his head. "You can't, Piper. It should only be Veon, Jason, and me. Diocletian's ghost might appear for a son of Jupiter, but any other demigod would most likely…ah,  _spook_  him. Veon and I can talk to his spirit. Even Hazel wouldn't be able to do that."

Nico's eyes held a gleam of challenge. He seemed curious as to whether or not Jason would protest.

I raised my hand. "I have been there before. Can I be guide?"

"Did Diocletian appear for you?" Veon asked.

I nodded. "He was there. We got into argument with shiny things."

"A bad one?"

"No. He liked me."

The ship's bell sounded. Festus creaked and whirred over the loudspeaker.

"We've arrived," Leo announced. "Time to Split."

Frank groaned. "Can we leave Valdez in Croatia?"

Jason stood. "Frank, you're in charge of defending the ship. Leo, you've got repairs to do. The rest of you help out wherever you can."

Leo raised his hand. "Are the Kako back as helpers now that we've got Veon back?"

Veon waved his hand and a Kako popped out of the floorboards. "We should be good."

"Excellent! That'll speed up repairs."

Jason looked over to the sons of Hades, then to me. He didn't look too excited, but he was a leader marching forward all the same. "Then we have got a ghost to find."


	24. Diocletian's Gho - Oh, Wait a Minute...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha ha, I did not expect to put Tsuchi's story in this part of the world, but when I started, I couldn't stop!
> 
> That's why this is so long. I apologize.
> 
> Also, the length has probably resulted in a myriad of errors. I shall edit it one day.
> 
> Enjoy! :)

First Person: Kaze

We first saw the angel at the ice cream cart.

The Argo II had anchored in the bay along with six or seven cruise ships. As usual, the mortals didn't pay the trireme any attention; but just to be safe, we hopped on a skiff from one of the tourist boats so we would look like part of the crowd when we came ashore. At first glance, Split seemed like a cool place. Curving around the harbor was a long esplanade lined with palm trees. At the sidewalk cafés, European teenagers were hanging out, speaking a dozen different languages and enjoying the sunny afternoon. The air smelled of grilled meat and fresh-cut flowers.

Beyond the main boulevard, the city was a hodgepodge of medieval castle towers, Roman walls, limestone town houses with red-tiled roofs, and modern office buildings all crammed together. In the distance, gray-green hills marched toward a mountain ridge, which made Jason a little nervous. He kept glancing at that rocky escarpment, expecting the face of Gaea to appear in its shadows.

" _Are you okay?_ " I asked Veon as we walked.

"Hm?" He asked. " _Oh, yeah, I'm fine, Kaze. Don't worry about it._ "

I couldn't help but worry, but I stayed silent for his sake.

We were wandering along the esplanade when Jason spotted the guy with wings buying an ice cream bar from a street cart. The vendor lady looked bored as she counted the guy's change. Tourists navigated around the angel's huge wings without a second glance.

Jason nudged Nico and I, who were at either of his sides. "Are you seeing this?"

"Yeah," Nico agreed. "Maybe we should buy some ice cream."

We made our way over toward the street cart.

"You think this guy could be a son of Boreas the North Wind?" Veon asked.

At his side, the angel carried the same kind of jagged bronze sword the Boreads had, and according to the stories, Jason and the others' last encounter with them hadn't gone so well.

But this guy seemed more  _chill_  than chilly. He wore a red tank top, Bermuda shorts, and huarache sandals. His wings were a combination of russet colors, like a bantam rooster or a lazy sunset. He had a deep tan and black hair, almost as curly as Leo's.

"He's not a returned spirit," Nico murmured. "Or a creature of the Underworld."

"No, I doubt they would eat chocolate-covered ice cream bars," Jason agreed.

"So what is he?" Veon wondered.

We got within thirty feet, and the winged dude looked directly at us. He smiled, gestured over his shoulder with his ice cream bar, and dissolved into the air. I couldn't exactly  _see_  him, but I was getting more experienced with controlling the wind and was somehow able to keep track of the angel's path - a warm wisp of red and gold zipping across the street, spiraling down the sidewalk, and blowing postcards from the carousels in front of the tourist shops. The wind headed toward the end of the promenade, where a big fortress-like structure loomed.

"I'm betting that's the palace," Jason said. "Come on."

Even after two millennia, Diocletian's Palace was still impressive. The outer wall was only a pink granite shell, with crumbling columns and arched windows open to the sky, but it was mostly intact, a quarter mile long and seventy or eighty feet tall, dwarfing the modern shops and houses that huddled beneath it. I imagined what the palace must've looked like when it was newly built, with Imperial guards walking the ramparts and the golden eagles of Rome glinting on the parapets.

The wind angel - or whatever he was - whisked in and out of the pink granite windows, then disappeared on the other side. I scanned the palace's façade for an entrance, zooming around and finding that the only one was several blocks away, with tourists lined up to buy tickets. I might be able to slip the guys in one by one with my speed, but there  _were_  more practical solutions.

I grabbed Veon's arm and pulled it over my shoulders, wrapping my own around his waist. "Zoop!"

I jumped and summoned a gust of wind to launch us up and over, and Veon was quick to catch on to the plan. We landed gracefully and I released him to speed up the wall and to the other side for the others, but then Jason came flying over with Nico making a muffled sound of protest at being grabbed. They soared over the walls and into a courtyard where more tourists were milling around, taking pictures.

I joined them in a split second, Veon looking very disturbed at seeing Nico and Jason coming over. A little kid did a double take when they landed. Veon pointed at him quickly and his eyes glazed over. He then shook his head, like he was dismissing a juice-box-induced hallucination. No one else paid us any attention.

On the left side of the courtyard stood a line of columns holding up weathered gray arches. On the right side was a white marble building with rows of tall windows.

"The peristyle," Nico said.

"Entrance to Diocletian private residence," I remembered.

Nico nodded and scowled at Jason. "And please, I don't like being touched. Don't ever grab me again."

Jason's shoulder blades tensed. Even I heard the undertone of a threat, like ' _unless you want to get a Stygian sword up your nose._ '

"Uh, okay," Jason said carefully. "Sorry. How do you know what this place is called?"

Nico scanned the atrium. He focused on some steps in the far corner, leading down.

"I've been here before." His eyes were as dark as his blade. "With my mother and Bianca. A weekend trip from Venice. I was maybe…six?"

"That was when…the 1930s?"

"'38 or so," Nico said absently. "Why do you care?"

"I was here in 19th century," I said. "Or…1900s? 19 something. Onesan and I got bored. She said this was palace. I learned all about palaces to know where the best stuff was."

"Anyone see that winged guy anywhere?" Veon asked.

"No…" Jason muttered.

Even as he looked around, he still seemed to be lost in thought, trying to wrap his mind around Nico's past, maybe mine, maybe both at once. Jason was a guy that tried to build a good relationship with the people on his team. He'd learned the hard way that if somebody was going to have your back in a fight, it was better if you found some common ground and trusted each other. But Nico wasn't easy to figure out. It wasn't gonna stop Jason's natural desire to try though.

"I just…I can't imagine how weird that must be, coming from another time."

"No, you  _can't_ ," Veon snapped, giving a glare like ' _Stop trying to get him to open up or I will open_ you _up with my sword_.'

Right, those two had some kind of bond or whatnot.

Nico stared at the stone floor. He took a deep breath. "Look…I don't like talking about it. Honestly, I think Hazel has it worse. She remembers more about when she was young. She had to come back from the dead and adjust to the modern world. Me…me and Bianca, we were stuck at the Lotus Hotel. Time passed so quickly. In a weird way, that made the transition easier."

"Being dead itself is scarring," I said. "Not just the adjustment. Feeling your life leave you, no longer feeling your body and soul connected. And remembering it all. That is harder, yes."

"Percy told me about the Lotus Hotel," Jason said. "Seventy years, but it only felt like a month?"

Nico clenched his fist until his fingers turned white. "Yeah. I'm sure Percy told you all about me."

His voice was heavy with bitterness - more than Jason could seemingly understand. He knew that Nico had blamed Percy for getting his sister Bianca killed, but they'd supposedly moved past that, at least according to Percy. Piper had also mentioned a rumor that Nico had a crush on Annabeth. Maybe that was a part of it. Who knows? I didn't understand because I didn't like Annabeth in that way. She was cool, I guess, smart and calm and nice, but by no means attractive in a romantic sense.

Still…Jason seemed curious as to why Nico pushed people away, why he never spent much time at either camp, why he preferred the dead to the living. He  _really_  didn't get why Nico had promised to lead the Argo II to Epirus if he hated Percy Jackson so much.

Oh, wait a minute…

The pieces started fitting together in my head, slowly but surely. There was grief, there was introversion, there was the fact that Nico was a son of Hades and therefore connected with the dead better than the living. There was the fact that children of Hades/Pluto weren't very liked and the fact that the dead were a lot more understandable than the complicated living. But there was a lot more to Nico than I assumed, maybe because I hadn't thought about it much before.

Poor guy, having everything piled on top of him with no time to breathe, no one to talk to - at least no one that he trusted. He grew up with the world against him, and he was too preoccupied fighting the external threats that he didn't have anything left for the internal ones.

Even if my theory was wrong, Nico deserved a break more than any of us.

"Let it go, Jason," Veon hissed. "We've got bigger fish to fry than invading people's privacy." He motioned to the windows above us. "Roman dead are everywhere here…"

"Lares," Nico confirmed. "Lemures. They're watching. They're angry."

"At us?" Jason asked, his hand moving to his sword.

"At everything." Nico pointed to a small stone building on the west end of the courtyard. "That used to be a temple to Jupiter. The Christians changed it to a baptistery. The Roman ghosts don't like that."

Jason stared at the dark doorway. It was kinda hard to imagine that people had come to that place to worship  _his_  dad. Even though I knew that all demigods had an immortal parent, I still kinda just imagined them as normal looking people - normal enough to fall in love with humans. They were jerks who abandoned those they fell in love with, most of the time it wasn't love, it was simply lust. I became very curious about Hermes in recent days. According to Percy, Hermes was one of the semi-nicer gods who cared about his children - even if one of them felt underappreciated and joined the Titans in their fight against the demigod Greeks. But Luke was a good person on the inside, and he had sided with the gods, more accurately his friends, in the end.

I wondered if I might've ended up just like my late half-brother if anything had been different. I still wasn't convinced that the gods were good enough for me to just accept, but at the same time, there was no getting rid of them. I was choosing these people, the crew of the Argo II, to put my trust in, not Zeus or all those guys, not Gaea and her monsters. I just hope that I've made the right decision, because in this life, the wrong decisions can't be taken back.

"And right over there…" Veon pointed east to a hexagonal building ringed with freestanding columns. "That was the mausoleum of the emperor."

"His tomb is gone, though," I said.

"It hasn't been for centuries," Nico agreed. "When the empire collapsed, the building was turned into a Christian cathedral."

Jason swallowed. "So if Diocletian's ghost is still around here-"

"He's probably not happy," Veon agreed.

The wind rustled, pushing leaves and food wrappers across the peristyle. In the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of movement - a blur of red and gold. I activated speed mode and ran in the direction I'd seen him go, stopping at the steps that led downwards. Fast as the wind, my kinda guy. I picked up a single rust-colored feather that was settling on the steps.

"This is the path," I announced, holding up the feather. "Winged man went here."

"Where do you think those stairs lead?" Jason asked.

Nico drew his sword. His smile was even more unsettling than his scowl. "Underground. My favorite place."

Veon drew his sword - his lance still missing from his arsenal. "Agreed. Let's move, boys."

* * *

Underground wasn't my favorite place. I was  _not_  in agreement with the two brothers of the Underworld. Jason seemed just as displeased.

During the trip beneath Rome, fighting those twin giants in the hypogeum under the Colosseum, it wasn't fun no matter which side you were on. I always felt constricted when underground, and Jason had nightmares about basements, trapdoors, and large hamster wheels.

Nico and Veon were not reassuring. Their Stygian iron blades seemed to make the shadows even gloomier, as if the infernal metal was drawing the light and heart out of the air.

We crept through a vast cellar with thick support columns holding up a vaulted ceiling. The limestone blocks were so old, they had fused together from centuries of moisture, making the place look almost like a naturally formed cave. None of the tourists had ventured down here. Obviously, they were smarter than demigods.

Jason drew his gladius, and I felt out of place, so I grabbed my shuriken and extended one of the blades like a sword. I flicked the weapon and activated the glow in the dark mode, meant to mimic Percy's sword Riptide and its glowing properties. We made our way under the low archways, steps echoing on the stone floor. Barred windows lined the top of one wall, facing the street level, but that just made the cellar feel more claustrophobic. The shafts of sunlight looked like slanted prison bars, swirling with ancient dust.

Jason passed a support beam, looked to his left, and jumped, nearly having a heart attack. Staring right at him was a marble bust of Diocletian, his limestone face glowering with disapproval. As Jason steadied his breathing, he decided this was a good enough place to leave the note he'd written for Reyna, telling her of their route to Epirus. It was away from the crowds, but he trusted Reyna would find it. She apparently had the instincts of a hunter. Sounded like a nice girl.

Jason slipped the note between the bust and its pedestal, and stepped back. Diocletian's marble eyes made him jumpy. I thought about Terminus, that statue that apparently came to life back at Camp Jupiter, guarding the boarders to the city. He was a talking statue-god. Hopefully Diocletian didn't bark at us or suddenly burst into song.

I looked around, moving my glowing blade to see things in the shadows and look around. Nico and Veon were doing the same with a small hint of night vision that I was jealous of. I wondered if I could examine their eyes in the dark and replicate their abilities in the form of contacts. That would be awesome.

I remembered that I had planned something for Reyna, quickly grabbing one of my enhanced weapons that I'd stolen from the Romans back at our final encounter in the states and setting it against the wall. Hopefully the sword would help Reyna in her journey. I also set down a small bag of supplies, from healing items to offensive destructive weapons. I also put an apple in there for Reyna's pegasus as well.

"Hello!"

Jason, still staring at the statue of Diocletian in thought, wasn't able to realize that the voice had come from somewhere else before he sliced off the emperor's head. The bust toppled and shattered against the floor.

"That wasn't very nice," A voice said behind them.

I already had my sword aimed at the winged man from the ice cream stand, leaning against a nearby column, casually tossing a small bronze hoop in the air. At his feet sat a wicker picnic basket of fruit.

"I mean what did Diocletian ever do to you?"

The air swirled around Jason's feet. The shards of marble gathered into a miniature tornado, spiraled back to the pedestal, and reassembled into a complete bust, the note still tucked underneath.

"Uh…" Jason lowered his sword. "It was an accident. You startled me."

The winged dude chuckled. "Jason Grace, the West Wind has been called many things - warm, gentle, life-giving, and devilishly handsome. But never have I been called  _startling_. I leave that crass behavior to my gusty brethren in the north."

I slowly lower my sword as I realized who this was.

Nico inched backward. "The West Wind? You mean you're-"

"Favonius," I finished. "God of the West Wind. Or Zephyrus. It is all confusing in Eurasia."

Favonius smiled and bowed, obviously pleased to be recognized. "You can call me by my Roman name, certainly, or my Greek. I'm not hung up about it. Been a while, little dude."

He gave me a finger gun with a click of his tongue and I returned it.

"You know him?" Veon asked.

"I have been here before. We are buds."

Nico looked pretty hung up on something else entirely. "Why aren't your Greek and Roman sides in conflict, like the other gods?"

"Oh, I have the occasional headache." Favonius shrugged. "Some mornings I'll wake up in a Greek chiton when I'm sure I went to sleep in my SPQR pajamas. But mostly the war doesn't bother me. I'm a minor god, you know - never really been much in the limelight. The to-and-fro battles among you demigods doesn't affect me as greatly."

"So…what are you doing here?" Jason asked, looking conflicted about whether he should sheathe his sword.

"Several things!" Favonius exclaimed. "Hanging out with my basket of fruit. I always carry a basket of fruit. Would you like a pear?"

I shook my head and warned him not to accept anything, but when Favonius looked in my direction, I used my speed to return to a casual position.

"Uh…I'm good, thanks," Jason said wisely.

"Let's see…earlier I was eating ice cream," Favonius continued. "Right now I'm tossing this quoit ring."

He spun the bronze hoop on his index finger.

Jason blinked, clearly unaware what a quoit ring was, but he tried to stay focused. "I mean why did you appear to us? Why did you lead us to this cellar?"

"Oh!" Favonius nodded. "The sarcophagus of Diocletian. Yes. This was its final resting place. The Christians moved it out of the mausoleum. Then some barbarians destroyed the coffin. I just wanted to show you-" he spread his hands sadly "-that what you're looking for isn't here. My master has taken it."

"Your master?" Jason had a flashback to a floating palace above Pikes Peak Colorado, where he'd visited (and barely survived) the studio of a crazy weatherman who claimed he was the god of all winds. "Please tell me your master isn't Aeolus."

" _That_  airhead?" Favonius snorted. "No, of course not."

"Eros," I corrected.

"Cupid in Latin," Nico said, his voice turning edgy.

Favonius smiled. "Very good, Nico di Angelo. I'm glad to see you again as well, buy the way. My, it's been a long time for  _both_  of you boys, hasn't it? You should really come by more often, honestly."

Nico knit his eyebrows. "I've never met you."

"You've never  _seen_  me," The god corrected. "But I've been watching you. When you came here a small boy, and several times since. I knew eventually you would return to look upon my master's face."

Nico turned even paler than usual. His eyes darted around the cavernous room as if he was starting to feel trapped. Veon was at Nico's side, scanning the room, protective of his brother.

"Nico?" Jason asked. "What's he talking about?"

"I don't know. Nothing."

"Nothing?" Favonius cried. "The one you care for most…plunged into Tartarus, and still you will not allow the truth?"

"That's  _enough_ ," Veon snapped. "We've only come for Diocletian's scepter. Is it here, or are we wasting our time?"

Nico looked thankful for the subject change.

"Ah…" Favonius nodded sadly. "You thought it would be as easy as facing Diocletian's ghost? I'm afraid not, Nico. Your trials will be  _much_  more difficult. You know, long before this was Diocletian's Palace, it was the gateway to my master's court. I've dwelt here for eons, bringing those who sought love into the presence of Cupid."

I didn't like the mention of difficult trials. The last time that we'd been here, Onesan and I had faced Eros just because, and we both came out more confused than ever. I was too young to really understood what it meant to be homosexual, but apparently the empousai that we'd face wasn't just doing something wrong when she tried to hypnotize me. I still remembered the proper techniques when faced with stranger danger when I'd met her. Meanwhile, Onesan didn't speak of what had happened simply because she herself didn't seem to understand. I wondered what would happen if Nico, Jason, and Veon all had to learn something from Cupid - particularly Nico, as he seemed to be the main target. He was the only one unhappy about who he was, unable to accept himself for reasons that weren't his fault.

"Like Psyche," I said, trying to make sure that Nico felt at least a  _little_  more comfortable. "Eros's wife."

Acting like nothing was wrong was a good way to help someone relax. Getting suspicious and asking what Favonius was talking about wouldn't make anything better for Nico, and at this point, it was us against a god. Nico would have to admit who he was to Cupid one way or another. The least we could do is make sure he knew that nothing changed no matter who he was.

"You carried her to this place. Also killed her sisters by refusing to let them come over."

"Well, they were dishonoring my master and they were mean. Anyway, yes. From this exact spot, I carried Psyche on the winds and brought her to the chambers of my master. In fact, that is why Diocletian built  _his_ palace here. This place has always been graced by the gentle West Wind." He spread his arms. "It is a spot of tranquility and love in a turbulent world. When Diocletian's place was ransacked-"

"You took the scepter," Jason guessed.

"For safekeeping," Favonius agreed. "It is one of Cupid's many treasures, a reminder of better times. If you want it…" Favonius turned to Nico. "You must face the god of love."

Nico stared at the sunlight coming through the windows, as if wishing he could escape through those narrow openings. Jason was already sold. If getting the scepter meant admitting a crush on the girl he liked, that didn't seem too bad. I started to finally understand why it was so hard to be like us. To someone like Jason, liking someone wasn't an issue. But he couldn't sympathize with us, he couldn't know what it was like to be different and be afraid of how differently people would see you. Nico came from a different time period, heck, so did I. On top of everything that Nico had been through, this might push him over the edge.

"Nico, you don't have to do this," Veon said. "We can find a way without the scepter."

"Nico, I know you can do this," Jason said. "It might be embarrassing, but the scepter could really help us moving forward. We need all the help we can get. We might not like it, but it seems tame compared to the things we've face in the past."

Nico looked between the two of them. He looked like he was going to be sick, but knew that everyone was looking to him. Everyone but me.

"Kaze?"

I raised my eyes to his.

"What do you think?"

I looked at Favonius. Meeting Cupid wasn't going to end well either way. Love was complicated. I wasn't a little kid anymore, I wasn't immune to the enigmatic world of love and neither was Nico. Maybe I would be prepared to face Cupid a second time, but would Nico? It wouldn't make him happy, and yet neither would bottling things up.

"It is your decision," I said. "Love is love. It is not dangerous, but it is scary all the same."

Nico still looked nauseous, but he swallowed and squared his shoulders, nodding. "I…I'm not afraid of a love god. Let's get that scepter."

Favonius beamed. "Excellent! Would you like a snack before you go?" He plucked a green apple from his basket and frowned at it. "Oh, bluster. I keep forgetting my symbol is a basket of  _unripe_  fruit. Why doesn't the spring wind get more credit? Summer has  _all_  the fun."

And that was why you never accepted fruit from Favonius.

"That's okay," Nico said quickly. "Just take us to Cupid."

Favonius spun the quoit hoop on his finger, and the others dissolved into air.

"Keep up, kiddo Kaze," Favonius said to me before turning into wind himself and zooming off with the gusts of wind that were my friends.

I ran after them at speed. "Hey! Wait!"

I hadn't properly learned to turn into wind yet! I focused until my ears popped while running, but then the others flew through a wall and I knew that I'd be left behind. This was so unfair! I held my breath and closed my eyes, imagining being trapped underwater like with that Audrey girl back under Rome in the hypogeum. I remembered the helplessness, the desperation, the adrenaline that surged through me as the world slowed down and I sped up. I felt a pop and then suddenly the world got blurry, I felt so light and fast and nearly out of control.

You know how there are those diagrams of the molecules in a gas particle or whatever? With the little dots zipping around as fast as possible? Imagine being those dots, barely keeping yourself together while every part of you is zooming around trying to escape. You were skirting the edge between control and out of control, your thoughts just as scattered as your body, no boundaries between you and the rest of the world.

I wondered, for a moment, if this was how monsters felt when they were defeated - bursting into dust, helpless and formless.

' _Follow the others._ '

I felt the path that Favonius had left behind him with the others, willing myself to follow them. I finally saw them, sensing their presence. The West Wind led us into the sky above Split. Together, we raced over the hills, past Roman aqueducts, highways, and vineyards. As we approached the mountains, I saw the ruins of a Roman town spread out in a valley below - crumbling walls, square foundations, and cracked roads, all overgrown with grass - so it looked like a giant, mossy game board.

Favonius set us down in the middle of the ruins, next to a broken column the size of a redwood. The others reformed, and I tried to do the wind version of taking a deep breath and relaxing before my body reformed too. Being back in human form felt heavy in comparison to the light feeling of being air. Once you got used to controlling yourself when you were the wind, it got a little disorienting to be human again, like suddenly being wrapped in a lead overcoat.

Jason, Nico, and Veon looked very unhappy. Jason looked exhausted and ready to either throw up or pass out, Nico looked pissed but just glad that it was over (if you could count not screaming and attacking the wind god with all he had being ' _glad_ '), and Veon looked like he was trying to adjust as fast as he could, taking the more practical approach and using the experience to add to his arsenal.

"Yes, mortal bodies are  _terribly_  bulky," Favonius said, probably reading all of our thoughts. The wind god settled on a nearby wall with his basket of fruit and spread his russet wings in the sun. "Honestly, I don't know how you stand it, day in and day out."

I scanned our surroundings. The town must have been huge once. I could make out the shells of temples and bathhouses, a half-buried amphitheater, and empty pedestals that must have once held statues. Rows of columns marched off to nowhere. The old city walls wove in and out of the hillside like stone thread through a green cloth. Some areas looked like they'd been excavated, but most of the city just seemed abandoned, as if it had been left to the elements for the last two thousand years.

"Welcome to Salona," Favonius said. "Capital of Dalmatia! Birthplace of Diocletian! But before that,  _long_ before that, it was the home of Cupid."

The name echoed, as if voices were whispering it through the ruins. Something about this place seemed even creepier than the palace basement in Split. I hadn't thought much about Cupid since I last encountered him. He wasn't some silly winged baby with a tow boy and arrow, flying around in his diapers on Valentine's Day - that was a very bad misconception on the humans' part. That would make him a putto. He was actually very good looking guy, but there was also something scary about him, if I remember correctly. It had been a while, after all.

"He's not like that," Favonius said to Jason.

Jason flinched in turn. "You can read my mind?"

"I don't need to." Favonius tossed his bronze quoit in the air. " _Everyone_  has the wrong impression of Cupid…until they meet him."

Nico braced himself against a column, his legs trembling visibly. Veon was at his side, scowling as though telling Nico off for accepting this bargain.

"Hey, man…"

Jason stepped toward them, but Veon warded Jason off. Jason seemed to be the only one in the dark about Nico, and his efforts to try and make Nico open up wasn't making him any more popular with Veon. At the brothers' feet, the grass turned brown and wilted. The dead patch spread outward, as if poison were seeping from the soles of his shoes.

"Ah…" Favonius nodded sympathetically. "I don't blame you for being nervous, Nico di Angelo. Do you know how  _I_  ended up serving Cupid?"

"I don't serve anyone," Nico muttered. "Especially not Cupid."

Favonius continued as if he hadn't heard a thing. "I fell in love with a mortal named Hyacinthus. He was  _quite_  extraordinary."

" _Kare wa totemo kawaikattadesu,_ " I muttered.

"He…?" Jason muttered, his brain still fuzzy from his wind trip. It took him a moment to process that. "Oh…"

"Yes, Jason Grace." Favonius arched an eyebrow. "I fell in love with a  _dude_. Does that shock you?"

Honestly, Jason didn't seem to care. In general, most of us demigods tried not to think about the details of godly love lives, no matter  _who_  they fell in love with. After all, Jason's dad, Jupiter, wasn't exactly a model of good behavior. Compared to some of the Olympian love scandals, the West Wind falling in love with a mortal guy didn't seem very shocking. Of course, that was with  _gods_. Even if you didn't like something about them, voicing it aloud wasn't exactly good for your health. The gods had free reign to do what they pleased, love who they wanted to. In ancient times, you could literally love anyone you wanted to. Someone of the same sex? Easy. An animal? No prob (though you might wanna make a wish or two in order to fix that little relationship barrier). A statue? Go for it (with a little help from Aphrodite).

Jason's reaction to a god liking a guy didn't necessarily reassure me about his reaction to me and Nico. I wasn't very shy about who I was, but then again, I'd never really found the need to share it. It wasn't like that was my first line when meeting someone - or  _something_ , I guess. 'Hi, I'm Kaze, I'm homosexual. Okay, now we can fight, monsters. Just wanted to keep things clear between us.'

"I guess not," Jason said. "So…Cupid struck you with his arrow, and you fell in love."

Favonius snorted. "You make it sound so simple. Alas, love is never simple. You see, the god Apollo also liked Hyacinthus. He claimed they were just friends. I don't know-"

" _Karera wa hidzuke o motte ita,_ " I whispered.

Favonius snorted and pretended he didn't hear it and couldn't understand Japanese. "One day I came across them together, playing a game of quoits-"

"Quoits?" Jason asked.

"Quoits," I explained, pointing at the ring in Favonius's hand.

"A game with those hoops," Nico explained, though his voice was brittle. "Like horseshoes."

"Apollo was teaching Hyacinthus how to throw one," Veon explained. "It was all romantic and stuff, apparently."

Favonius frowned. "At any rate, I was jealous. Instead of confronting them and finding out the truth, I shifted the wind and sent a heavy metal ring right at Hyacinthus's head and…well." The wind god sighed. "As Hyacinthus died, Apollo turned him into a flower, the hyacinth. I'm sure Apollo would've taken horrible vengeance on me, but Cupid offered me his protection. I'd done a terrible thing, but I'd been driven mad by love, so he spared me, on the condition that I work for him forever."

"Actually Apollo was too depressed to do much, really," Veon said. "He's a god of music and poetry - he's a thespian to the core. He took the saddened route and kinda just sulked through things, wallowing to Hermes about it, getting drunk at a few of Dionysus's parties and at his bar. By the time he realized it was you and was ready to be angry about it, you were already here with Cupid, so it wasn't worth pursuing. Besides, he was concerned about what would've made Hyacinthus happy, and the guy was too nice to want vengeance for his death or something."

Veon shook his head and blinked.

"Where did  _that_  come from?"

Favonius's eyebrow twitched at Veon when he mentioned Apollo being worried about Hyacinthus's opinion, when he was interrupted by a-

_CUPID_

The name echoed through the ruins again.

"That would be my cue," Favonius said, standing. "Think long and hard about how you proceed, Nico di Angelo. You cannot lie to Cupid. If you let your anger rule you…well, your fate will be even sadder than mine."

I looked to Nico. There was no escaping this, not if he wanted to survive this encounter. Admit it, that's all he had to do. It was like asking him to stab himself in the chest and tear himself open, but if he did it, maybe he could move past it and heal with time.

Favonius disappeared in a swirl of red and gold. The summer air suddenly felt oppressive. The ground shook, and everyone drew their swords.

" _So._ "

The voice rushed past our ears like bullets. I increased my speed and started to see a blurry vision of a man running past - Cupid. I remembered that he was fast, I remember wanting to run like he did, run like the wind itself, but now that I could, I was surprised that Cupid was still faster than me at my average speed mode. Then again, I had slowed down my average speed because I still wanted the world's time to pass and the others were so slow that it got boring being the only one at speed. I knew how fast I  _could_  go, but the question was could I still get to those speeds.

Jason and Nico turned, but Cupid was far too fast for them.

" _You come to claim the scepter._ "

Nico and Veon stood back to back with Jason at their side. Unconsciously, they slipped into a triangle to block all sides around them. Both of them suddenly seemed to realize what they'd gotten themselves into.

"Cupid," Jason called. "Where are you?"

The voice laughed. Cupid's voice was deep and rich, but also threatening - like a tremor before a major earthquake."

" _Where you least expect me,_ " Cupid answered. " _As Love always is._ "

"Jason!" I shouted.

I slowing down so that Jason could hear my words, I realized that Cupid was far too fast for him to keep up with. Jason probably didn't even hear my shout before Cupid was already upon him, slamming into the son of Jupiter and sending across the street. He toppled down a set of steps and sprawled on the floor of an excavated Roman basement.

" _I would think you'd know better, Jason Grace._ " Cupid whirled around him. " _You've found true love, after all. Or do you still doubt yourself?_ "

I was first to be by Jason's side and pull him to his feet. Nico and Veon were scrambling down the steps to help. "You okay?" Veon asked.

Jason accepted my help as he got to his feet. "Yeah, just got sucker punched."

" _Oh, did you expect me to play fair?_ " Cupid laughed. " _I am the god of love. I am_ never _fair._ "

I took the initiative this time I saw something happen. The air rippled just as an arrow materialized, racing toward Nico's chest. I expanded the other blades of my shuriken and threw it to intercept, deflecting the arrow as it split in half and peppered us with limestone shrapnel. We ran up the steps, Veon pulling Nico to one side as another gust of wind toppled a column that would have crushed him flat.

"Is this guy Love or Death?" Jason growled.

"Close enough either way," Veon muttered.

" _Yes, your friends know,_ " Cupid said. " _Frank, Hazel, Emily, Audrey, Percy. Each of them met my counterpart, Thanatos. The lieutenant of the Underworld has been a friend of Zytaveon's for many years now. He knows. We are not so different. Except Death is sometimes kinder._ "

"We just want the scepter!" Nico shouted. "We're trying to stop Gaea. Are you on the gods' side or not?"

A second arrow shot towards them and Veon pulled Nico so that they switched positions, his shield opening up as the arrow glowed white-hot and then burst into a geyser of flame, blocked by the shield but pushing Veon back from the force.

" _Love is on every side,_ " Cupid said. " _And no one's side. Don't ask what Love can do for you._ "

"Great," Jason said. "Now he's spouting greeting card messages."

"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind; And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind!" Veon shouted.

There was a disturbance in the air and a grunt. " _Very good Zytaveon, you know the truth about Love. But you still know nothing of your own!_ "

"Things base and vile, holding no quantity, Love can transpose to form and dignity!"

The air shifted again. Though Cupid couldn't be seen by the others, if I sped myself up, I could see that something was happening to Cupid.

"How are you doing that?" Jason asked.

" _What_  are you even doing?" Nico demanded.

"Shakespeare," Veon said simply. "And a little hope."

I shouted. "Jas-!"

Jason was now on high alert, so he already sensed the movement behind him. He spun, slicing his sword through the air. He struck a glancing blow before Cupid had moved away, grunting at the attack. Jason swung again, but the invisible god was long gone. On the paving stones, a trail of golden ichor shimmered - the blood of the gods.

" _Very good, Jason_ ," Cupid said. " _At least you can sense my presence. Even a glancing hit at true love is more than most heroes manage._ "

"Nor hath Love's mind of any judgement taste," Veon muttered. "Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste."

" _Oh, now that one was just offensive._ "

"Cupid?" I asked. "Can we have scepter? Pleeeaaase?"

" _Kaze Grigora, son of broken love. You didn't understand what I meant the first time we met, did you?_ "

"No."

" _And now?_ "

"She…Tsuchi loved a god and…she died thinking he never loved her back."

" _Quite the contrary, he loved her very dearly,_ " Cupid agreed.

"But the others said he could not…he could not even visit because I something was wrong with me. I was special and they were afraid."

" _Your mother went mad with love, became mad_ at _love for abandoning her. The gods tore them apart, as all deities do. But your mother had lost all she'd loved before. Loving Hermes was the one thing that scared her most, but love is unstoppable no matter how right or wrong it seems. She loved a forbidden love, and all it did was leave her broken._ "

I suddenly felt my vision fade as a memory took over.

_Tsuchi was running. She was filled with joy at what she'd accomplished - ruining those stupid aristocrat parties filled her with pride. She rushed up the stairs with the security people running after her, leaving a few surprises for her pursuers each time she turned a corner, before she finally made it to the roof. The roof wasn't meant to be accessible to the public, and so the stairwell was very hidden and small. Luckily, Tsuchi was small._

_She made it to the top, putting one of her locks on the door behind her that sealed it shut and reinforced it with some demigod magic. Ha, too easy._

_"Nice moves, kiddo."_

_Tsuchi instantly had a bomb out ready to toss at the voice, but a moment later it was gone from her hand with only a small breeze to indicate that anything had happened._

_"What the-?"_

_"These are dangerous, sweetheart."_

_She finally spotted the man who had spoke standing at the edge of the building on the railing. He was dressed in a chiton - one of those dumb Greek dresses - with a winged helmet, a staff with two snakes circling around it also with wings at the top (a_   _kērū́keion, yeah, she knew what it was, she wasn't an idiot), and winged shoes. She was sensing a theme here. He had a muscular build, curly black hair, blue eyes, elfish features, and a sly grin._

_"I'm not a child," She snapped. "And what are you supposed to be, wing-man?"_

_He scoffed. "I'm Hermes, obviously."_

_"Hermes? Yeah, right. You get points for presentation, but the gods don't just come down to have a chat. Now are you gonna leave me alone or do you want a fight?"_

_"I came here for a_ reason! _" Hermes protested. "I'm a psychopomp and you killed a couple dudes back there. Just doing my duty and throwing them to the Underworld. Thanatos doesn't do_ everything _down there you know, and Hades likes me. I help out where I can."_

_"Look, I get it, you're Hermes, now will you leave me alone?"_

_His eyebrow twitched as he gave a scowl. "I_ am _Hermes and you should be more respectful."_

_She walked over to the railing and looked down. "And why's that? The gods don't care about us. They have their flings, they leave and life just goes on for us, no matter how hard they've made it. They should just stay out of human lives if they're not gonna be of any real use."_

_He dropped to sit on the rail beside her. "What's got_ you _so wound up about us?"_

_"My mom was cursed by a god. Just because she was the daughter of one, my dad was killed, my mom committed suicide, and I…I was left all alone."_

_"That…that sucks."_

_She scoffed. "No duh."_

_He turned to face her, straddling the rail dangerously, and Tsuchi wondered if this man really_ was _an god or just simply an idiot with a death wish. "So, does that mean you're a legacy?"_

_She raised an eyebrow. "A what?"_

_"It means you're not a direct child of a god - like you're a grandchild of a god or beyond."_

_"I_ guess _that's what I am. Maybe. Whatever. Why am I even talking to you? I've got places to be."_

_He giggled and turned so that his legs were hanging off the side of the railing leading to the long drop down. They were a few stories high, but he didn't seem very concerned. Then, he leaned back with his hands behind his head and hung upside down so that his head was facing the roof at Tsuchi's feet._

_"No you don't."_

_Her nose crinkled in annoyance. "What do you mean by that?"_

_"You don't have a home. You're living wherever the wind takes you."_   _He sat up straight again almost impossibly fast without any loss of his balance. "You've got nowhere to be."_

_There was shouting from down the stairs she had just come from and the banging of metal._

_"But it seems you're a bit stuck."_

_"I'm not stuck. I've got plenty of ways to get down."_

_She pulled out her hoverboard and expanded it from its collapsed position._

_"We're too high up for that to be of any use," Hermes said, concern lacing his voice._

_"Not with the jets I designed. Trust me, I tested this before."_

_Hermes looked to the door before suddenly grabbing her and pulling her over the railing._

_"Hey! What are you-?! Let me go!"_

_Tsuchi couldn't get in position to use her hoverboard properly with his holding her, and while she was considering punching her way free, he was much stronger than her and the time spent freeing herself would leave her still unable to recover. Better to try and let him cushion her fall._

_But to her surprise, they started lifting and then gaining speed. They were flying across the skies, across rooftops and cars and buildings. The wind blew across her face, she got a feeling of weightlessness different than when she used any of her inventions to fly - she wasn't in control, simply being carried. She wouldn't admit how she still felt safe trusting Hermes, that she lost her concentration and might've let him take her anywhere as long as she continued to fly like that._

_Hermes landed them a good distance away where Tsuchi couldn't even see the mansion they had come from._

_"Told you I was the real Hermes," Hermes said when he released her._

_Her heart was still pounding from what had just happened. She was breathing hard for some reason._

_"I…I-I told you to leave me alone." She swallowed, hefting her hoverboard. "I was fine."_

_He frowned. "You wouldn't have made it out of there alive without me."_

_"That's in your opinion. I'm tougher than I look."_

_She couldn't look at him, instead opting to go to the edge of the roof they were on and prepare her hoverboard._

_"I'll give you my thanks just this once, but it doesn't mean anything. Just leave me alone. Go do what you gods do and stay out of it."_

_She jumped, placing her hoverboard beneath her feet, and as she approached the ground, the jets kicked into high gear and caught her in a gentle landing, turning to then thrust her forward and down the street. Whatever the mundanes saw thanks to the Mist, she didn't care. What she_ did _care about was getting the hell away from that stupid god and to never see him again._

 _But in reality, she_ did _want to see him again. In fact, she secretly hoped for it._

_The next time they met, Tsuchi was sneaking into another aristocrat's house for one of their parties. She didn't care what it was for, but she knew there was some good food and a chance at spiting those monsters that didn't care in the slightest about her class. They didn't care about starving children, about orphans or even adults who couldn't get a foothold in this world no matter how hard they tried._

_Tsuchi stole some new clothes that day to look the part. She hated dresses, but that was what girls were wearing those days. Luckily, it wasn't hard for her to pass herself off as older than she was - in her twenties, maybe. She used 23 as her fake age when people asked. At 16, she might have looked dainty and delicate if she was cleaned up, but she had an inventor god's genes. In turn, she was never meant to look better than when she was covered in dirt, grime, oil, and grease. Not to mention hygiene wasn't at the top of her priorities. Her acne came and went, but she couldn't care less about it. If she got sick, she had no choice but to power through it._

_She got to the food table and didn't exactly eat like a woman, but she was as discreet as possible._

_"Excuse me, ma'am."_

_She stuffed a small sandwich in her mouth and wiped her mouth on her hands, then her hands on her dress. She chewed and swallowed quickly before turning with a smile at the stranger, who turned out to be a man that was here for the party._

_"Oh, it seems we've never been properly introduced," The man said in a soft voice. Too soft. What? Did he eat rainbows? Stupid rich people and their richness. "I've never seen you around here before."_

_"I'm T…Taejin. Of the Yaru family."_

_"Well, might I have this dance, Mrs. Yaru?"_

_'_ **Over my dead body.** _' "Of course, good sir."_

_She looked at how the other women were dancing to try and get the positioning of where her hands should be._

_"I must warn you, I was never good at dancing. I'm not very familiar with the steps. Despite all the lessons mother gave me."_

_'_ **As in I've never had a lesson in my life.** _'_

_"Oh, it's no issue. To be honest, I'm not very experienced myself."_

_"Then why ask me for a dance?"_

_He shrugged. "Perhaps I simply desired to court the most beautiful woman here."_

_Tsuchi wanted to throw up at the cheesiness, but she just smiled. "Well, I'd hardly say I'm the most beautiful here. Oh, I don't recall receiving your name."_

_"That's because I never gave it." The man seemed amused by this comment, as though he'd made a joke. Tsuchi wasn't laughing. "I am Mushussu Tama."_

_The two of them swayed slightly. Well, at least the dance wasn't as complicated as she had feared._

_"Where are you from, Taejin? What brings you to this event?"_

_Tsuchi was scrambling to come up with excuses for this guy, but she had a feeling that he wasn't going to let her go very easily._

_"I…w-well, you see-"_

_"May I cut in?"_

_Tsuchi looked up to see familiar blue eyes, curly black hair no longer hidden by a helmet, and, in contrast, a tall and muscular frame hidden by a suit. He still had that sly grin that Tsuchi hated and yet couldn't get out of her mind ever since their first encounter._

_"Yes," Tsuchi said without thinking. Anything to get away from this Mushu loser. "Yes, I'd like that very much."_

_"And you are?" Mushussu asked, looking slightly annoyed at losing his dance._

_"Why,_ Taejin _," Hermes smirked, stretching out the fake name she'd come up with. "You didn't tell him about me?"_

_"There wasn't any time," She hissed, trying to keep a smile on her face. "We've just met, after all. We've barely exchanged names."_

_Hermes offered his hand. "Kurt Yaru. I'm Taejin's husband."_

_Tsuchi simultaneously wanted to kill this god and blush. She repressed the urge to do either._

_Mushussu shook Hermes' hand and the two talked for a few moments before Hermes silently waved him away. Like, he didn't_ say _'Go away,' but he said 'Go away.'_

_"Well, I will…leave you two alone," Mushussu said awkwardly before scurrying off._

_The moment he was out of sight, Tsuchi whacked Hermes on the arm. God or not, she had the right._

_"'Kurt?' '_ Kurt? _'"_

_He shrugged. "First thing that came to mind."_

_"At least_ mine _was Japanese."_

_"Every language started as nothing but grunts and gestures. In the end, we're all speaking different versions of caveman."_

_"What does that even_ mean?! _"_

 _He rolled his eyes. "It_ means _, I saved your butt so you owe me a dance."_

 _She crossed her arms, but didn't move any further away at the idea. "What are you even_ doing _here anyway?"_

_"I wanted to see you."_

_She raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Really?"_

_He shrugged. "And I have business here."_

_"What kind?"_

_He nodded over to a man and a woman, their arms linked. The woman was extraordinarily pretty, almost annoyingly so. She was American, that was obvious enough. Tsuchi had always been jealous of American woman. The woman had strawberry blonde hair, eyes that were almost pink. The man, in contrast, was an eyesore. He didn't look like he had some plague, but man was he ugly. His face was covered in acne - and usually Tsuchi wasn't bothered by that sort of thing. His beard and hair looked like they hadn't been brushed in months - or at least he had_ tried _to brush them, but his comb got lost in there and he gave up._

_"That's Aphrodite and Hephaestus."_

_Tsuchi looked at Hermes, trying to see if she'd heard that right. That was really…then again, this_  was _Hermes she was talking to._

_"And those guys over there?"_

_Hermes pointed to a guy that was taller than most of the other men. He definitely had some muscle under his tux, so much so that even the fancy attire couldn't hide it. Was that a belt of grenades peaking out from underneath? He was talking to Aphrodite and Hephaestus, along with another man beside him. The third man was older with salt and pepper hair. He seemed a little more casual than everyone else, his shirt untucked, no tie, a drink in his hand, and the first few buttons of his shirt undone._

_"Ares and Poseidon. Ares is failing at being subtle while flirting with Aphrodite and Poseidon is doing love control by making sure Hephaestus or Ares don't try anything. They're an entertaining bunch to be sure."_

_"Why are all of you here? Five gods all at once in the same place - especially Poseidon-"_

_"Oh, we're not the only ones. 50% of the crowd here are gods, major and minor alike." He turned to Tsuchi with that stupid sly grin. "You just walked into one of the biggest meetings of the Greek pantheon of the century, sweetheart."_

_Tsuchi stared. At Hermes, at the party, then Hermes, and the party again. "D…Don't call me 'sweetheart.'"_

_He laughed. "Fine by me, darling."_

_She crinkled her nose in disgust. "On second thought, go back to sweetheart."_

_He laughed again, this time loud enough to draw some eyes. For some reason, Tsuchi found herself laughing at his laugh. She was laughing at the stupidity of it all - her presence at this place, the fact that the gods were meeting like this and she_ had _to stumble into it. She was laughing at the Fates, laughing at whatever was out there that drove her to come here, that put so many coincidences together that they were no longer considered coincidences._

_Hermes held out his hand. "So, I was promised a dance."_

_Tsuchi chuckled in disbelief. "Really?"_

_He rolled his eyes. "Well, there's no reason we can't enjoy ourselves. Besides, this is my family we're talking about. I see enough of them in my regular life. I've got time."_

_Tsuchi chuckled, but found herself taking his hand. She was_ excited _about this._

_What?_

_"I don't know how to dance," She warned._

_"I can teach you. It's really easy once you learn. It's just a circle. Step with alternating feet. The guy always starts with his right."_

_She snorted. "That's sexist."_

_He smiled with a shrug. "I didn't make the rules, I just inform you of them. Granted, I've_  met _the guy who made the rules, not that it changes them._ "

_Tsuchi was actually better than she thought at dancing. Or maybe Hermes was just a good teacher. Or both. Tsuchi actually started to enjoy talking about herself to Hermes. In the end, she wouldn't remember everything she said to him, but she wasn't worried about him snitching or anything. In return, Hermes shared some stories that Tsuchi may or may not have known - how he stole Apollo's cows (don't know why that was such a big accomplishment, but Tsuchi stayed quiet and let him continue) and then subsequently gave him a lyre to say sorry._

_"Within a few minutes of my birth."_

_"I don't even wanna know how that works."_

_"I matured very quickly. Anyway, Apollo was like a toddler when I gave him the lyre and instantly forgot about my crime."_

_"Sounds like an interesting guy. Not very bright. Reminds me of someone else I know."_

_He looked around innocently. "Who?"_

_She giggled. "You can only see him if you look in a mirror."_

_"Well, technically I can just duplicate myself or close my eyes for the omnipotence that being a god gives you, but…hey!"_

_He pretended to just now understand what she was implying, being all dramatic about it._

_"How could you do this to me?! I thought we were friends!"_ _He exclaimed._

_"You said it, not me."_

_"Is being my friend such a bad thing?"_

_"Didn't wanna imply anything you didn't approve of, oh mighty Hermes."_

_"My family has short fuses, but I like to consider myself a more mellow god. I can be friends with whoever I want. In any case, I don't just teach_ anyone _how to dance. I'd say I'm doing pretty well."_

_"Or maybe I'm just a natural dancer."_

_His nose crinkled. "No, obviously not."_

_She whacked his arm, but it was like hitting a brick wall. Stupid gods and stupid their muscles._

_"You like it," Hermes muttered._

_"What?" She demanded._

_"Nothing._   _You wanna get out of here?"_

_She looked around at the other gods. "Are you allowed to?"_

_He shrugged. "They can call me when they need me and I'll be back in a flash. Besides, not like I don't run off doing stuff anyway. So, you up for it?"_

_She stared at him. "I wanna see how fast those little wing-shoes can make you."_

_"Race then?"_

_"Race."_

_The two ran out of the party together, Tsuchi pulling off the stupid dress to reveal she had clothes underneath. She grabbed her hoverboard from her hidden bag and then expanded it._

_"First to the clocktower, no teleporting, just flying. Got it?"_

_"Yes, ma'am," Hermes saluted._

_"Ready? Go!"_

_After that, the two of them met very often. Tsuchi seemed to run into him everywhere. She started to look forward to who he might be disguised as, where she might meet him, and what they'd do together when they had time. She didn't want to admit it aloud, but she also relied on him for the packages that he brought. He gave her food, clothing, and got her into places where she'd have never gotten on her own. She still hated aristocrats, she still had a hatred for the gods that never cared about humans. It was just Hermes. He was her friend. She didn't want anything to change._

_Then she kissed him. Then she slept with him. Then she woke up to him, still there._

_He didn't leave like she thought he would. Suddenly she was the one teaching him. He had always told her stories about being a god, he had taught her how he saw the world and gave her a new perspective. But now it was her turn. She taught him how humans were more than just tricksters full of greed and deception. There were things that he'd never taught humans that he didn't fully understand. Maybe he knew the god that had created a certain trait within humans, but he'd never had so much fun living as one._

_He was amazed by small things, though he pretended to be casual about most of it. But Tsuchi knew he was enjoying himself, and she was enjoying her time with him. Then there were all the times they pranked people together. Hermes wasn't as good as Hephaestus, but he was still an inventor, and so the two got along swimmingly when it came to ways to make the world a more_ … _entertaining place._

 _Then, one day, she woke up to a single note on the nightstand of the hotel she was at: '_ I'm sorry. _'_

_She had nowhere to go, no one to help her. Suddenly, she was left all alone and unprepared for it. She finally realized all that he had done for her, how reliant she had become. She promised herself that she'd never do this, accept a god's gifts, because there was always a price. Always. She had lost her natural sense of survival, her instincts, and suddenly things that had once been her everyday life were miserable._

_Then she started throwing up._

_She felt sick every day. It was hell. She felt trapped, she couldn't get a foothold in the world anymore. She got caught stealing food because she couldn't focus and was out of practice. She was taken to prison and when they found out about her sickness, she was asked one question that made her already destroyed world turn upside down: '_ Are you pregnant? _'_

_She should've known._

_She told herself that, day in and day out. She should've trusted her gut and never did what she did. She should have stuck with that promise she had made herself all those years ago. She was only 17. She was going to die, she decided. This child was going to kill her. She wasn't old enough to be a mom yet, let alone one who didn't have a home, didn't have a job, didn't have a life._

_But they wouldn't let her kill herself while she was here - she had to give the child a chance at life even if she didn't want hers._

_So they fed her, and she couldn't resist the food. She got water as the only thing she was allowed to drink, she was encouraged to exercise, and after a while, the pain began to make her desperate for any kind of distraction. At least it was only one baby and not two or three._

_She turned 18 in prison._

_She looked out the window every day, praying for Hermes to come back. Maybe if she raised her son, Hermes would come back to meet him. That was the only thing that she could tell herself that might convince her to go on. While a part of her hated him, another part of her hoped she was wrong. She hoped that he was the exception she had come to believe he was._

_The birth went well, or so she was told. All she could remember was the screaming and the desperate urge to get it over with._

_Then, she was given her son. Suddenly, she felt like crying. She had always thought that babies were ugly, wondering how a mother could possibly love them when they were first born. But now that she had her own, she realized that it wasn't the appearance of the baby that mattered at all. It was that feeling of holding another life in your arms, the feeling of knowing that this child was_ yours _, and that they were your blood. There was a euphoria she had never experienced before, love she didn't know she was capable of holding._

_It was too much for her. It squeezed her from the inside, a wave of emotion she wasn't prepared for. She found herself crying right alongside her son._

_They took him away. They said it was because there were some procedures that needed to be done, just regulations to see if he was healthy, but Tsuchi didn't care about that. In the end, the drugs they put into her caused her to pass out. She dreamed that everything had left her. Hermes, her son, her parents. It all hit her at once._

_That was how she found herself forcing her eyes open. She removed the equipment from her. She felt sore as hell, she felt like her body was going to shut down at any second. Being stabbed was_ nothing _compared to childbirth. She got out of bed, keeping the machines on her that would immediately alert any of the staff that she was awake - the most important of which being the heart monitor._

_She scanned the machinery and her brain went into overdrive. She pulled the plugs on the right machines, leaving others alone so that no one would know she was gone until it was too late. She found her clothes and changed as quickly as possible. Enduring the pain was something she'd learned over the past few months._

_As she slipped on her shirt, she noticed a package sitting on the table along with a couple presents from the staff and a friend or two she'd made in prison (not that she trusted any of them, but sadly one or two of them had too good of hearts and had bargained their way into getting some of the guards to buy her toys for her son). The package, however, was what drew her eye. On it, there were big bold letters that said_ **_HERMES EXPRESS_ ** _._

_"Hermes…?"_

_She tore open the package and found some nectar and ambrosia, along with a small plushie of Hermes with his winged hat and winged shoes and his stupid scepter. It had a cute little smile that Tsuchi couldn't help but laugh at the stupidity of (she might've realized that she used the word stupid a lot, but she didn't care). There were a ton of baby supplies in, there too. She dug around and finally found what she was looking for: a note._

_'_ I'm sorry, Tsuchi. This will help you raise your son. I won't be able to send anything else, but I hope this helps. I do care, Tsuchi, I swear. The circumstances are complicated. The items instantly refill themselves, infinite uses :) _'_

_"Not on the Styx, I see," She muttered._

_She grabbed the stuffed bear her prison friend had gotten her. She stared at the Hermes toy and the box of baby stuff. She walked towards the door. She grabbed the stupid Hermes plushie and shoved it in her jacket pocket._

_She made her way down the hall, and acting normal was a skill that had never left her. Deception was something that she wasn't out of practice with, even when Hermes had been with her. No one paid her any mind. She made her way down to the baby nursery, using some salvaged things from the equipment in her room to break in without setting off the alarms._

_She instantly knew which one was hers. All the other children meant nothing and could rot for all she cared, but she wanted her son. He'd been wrapped up in a light blue blanket and she felt her eyes watering again just at his presence. Man, did this child have some godly power to make anyone who came near want to break down in tears?_

_"Four point one kilograms," She said, her voice unconsciously gentle and raising in pitch. "You're a big one, aren't you?"_

_At least the baby wasn't crying anymore. His eyes were still squeezed shut, but he seemed to be asleep. Tsuchi kept reading the charts and stuff that told her about her son's condition._

_"Everything seems to be in order. 'Calm and collected at one moment, screaming and squirming another.' As erratic as…as the wind, aren't you? Just like…like your dad."_

_The baby suddenly started squirming and opened his mouth to let out a wail._

_"No, no, no, no, no! Shh! Please, baby. I know. He's mean for leaving us behind. I know."_

_She started to rock him like she'd seen on TV before, but it didn't seem to be working._

_"He's hungry," A woman said._

_Tsuchi turned and defensively held her son to her chest._

_It was a nurse. "It's their feeding time," She informed Tsuchi with a smile. "Is this one yours?"_

_"Yes," Tsuchi said immediately. She shook her head. "Sorry, I'm just…"_

_The nurse laughed. "It's okay. I've been a mom myself. I know how it feels. Suddenly it's like the whole world is a million times more dangerous, and the only safe place is in your arms."_

_Tsuchi nodded. "Yeah, that's how it feels."_

_The nurse smiled. "You wanna feed him?"_

_Tsuchi's heart skipped a beat at the idea. "I…I don't know how. I mean…what if I do it wrong? How do you tell when he's full?"_

_"I'll teach you. Come on."_

_Tsuchi learned all about how to feed her son, how to burp him, and how to change him. Normally, she wouldn't have had the attention span for such a thing. She'd have been appalled at the thought of having no sleep schedule, having to change diapers and guess when her son was hungry or if he was just crying to get her attention for some other reason. But now Tsuchi absorbed the information like a sponge, was even eager to get started._

_She fed her son for the first time. She was enthralled, watching him eat. You wouldn't think that it'd be that interesting, but it made her weirdly giddy._

_"You're young," The nurse noticed._

_Tsuchi tensed, careful not to harm the baby in her arms. "Yeah, I, uh…the father he…he's not here anymore. Up and left me the moment I was pregnant."_

_The nurse shook her head. "Teenagers. The boys have no right to just up and leave girls with children at this age."_

_"I thought he was different. I was cautious before, you know? I wouldn't let a boy get within a twenty meter radius of me."_

_The nurse chuckled, and Tsuchi couldn't help but smile too._

_"But then…ugh, he was so annoying at first, but…he stayed with me for a little over a year. He saw me more often then he should have - I was afraid he'd get in trouble, but he came and saw me all the time anyway. In the back of my mind, I knew it couldn't last forever - that initial infatuation, you know? But it didn't wear off, and I fell for him like some dainty damsel."_

_"There's nothing wrong with loving someone, honey," The nurse said gently. "Love is a complicated thing. It sounds like this was real between you. And he up and left one day? Just like that? You sure it wasn't just a misunderstanding? You sure it was really his choice to leave?"_

_Tsuchi looked up at the wall, painted with bright colors for the children. "I guess so. His family's pretty strict. I just thought…you know, maybe he'd say goodbye and_ explain _. I thought he was better than just to disappear."_

 _"It_ sounds _like he was." The nurse looked at the charts on Tsuchi's son. "No father named?"_

_She shook her head. "I don't…I guess I really don't know who he was. May have used a fake name," Tsuchi lied. "Even if I did, I don't know if he's ever coming back."_

_The nurse wrapped her in a gentle hug. "You poor thing. Look, they're gonna do some testing on his DNA to find out who the father is. If he's gonna leave, he at least needs to sign some things. I'll put in word to make sure that you and your son get justice."_

_Tsuchi just nodded as the nurse walked away to tend to the other babies. They wouldn't find anything, she knew. Not only would she be suspected for not being a good parent because of her lack of a home, a job, a family, but also she was facing her prison time as well. When they found that her child's DNA was messed up, he'd be taken away from her no doubt._

_She looked down at the baby sleeping in her arms. "Kaze."_

_"Hm?" The nurse looked up. "What was that?"_

_"His name is Kaze."_

_The nurse smiled. "That's a wonderful name. It suits him."_

_"Yes, it does."_

_What happened next was carefully planned. Tsuchi took her time, using every second she had, until the nurse told her that she'd have to leave for the night. Tsuchi whacked the nurse with a bottle of baby powder. Tsuchi may not have been good with living creatures compared to machines, but she knew where the pressure points were on someone. The nurse collapsed with one strike. Tsuchi took a bag and grabbed the supplies she needed as quickly as she could, slinging it over her shoulder cross-body before taking Kaze and running._

_It was hard at first._

_She only had enough supplies for a couple days, and after that, she had to resort to stealing again. But now, she was on high alert. The difference between success and failure was the difference between her son living and dying. Even just having him cry because he was hungry or needed changing tore her heart in half, so she wanted to make sure that he had plenty of supplies._

_She found a store that had plenty of baby supplies and walked in with ease. Then, she hid until the end of the day until the place closed. After that, she hacked into the security system so that she could find a place where she wouldn't be seen. In the end, she found the perfect place, keeping control of the technology in the store just in case._

_That's how Kaze grew up._

_They hid at the back of a store, beside a door leading out the back. It wasn't used by regular employees, and Tsuchi erased every trace of its existence. That place was where Kaze learned to walk, where he learned to speak, where he learned to invent. By the time he was three, Kaze could sneak through the store for supplies or even sneak out into the world. He was fast, even at that age, and no one could catch him. He could lie with ease, saying that he knew where his mother was and that he was told to avoid talking to strangers. If anyone asked who Tsuchi was, he was told to say she was his mother. He stole from fast-food places for a change of meals when they got tired of their store's food._

_But most of all, Kaze grew up hating Hermes._

_Tsuchi gave him a little doll that he loved to hate. He ripped it up a lot as a baby, but it always repaired itself somehow. Tsuchi tore it apart a couple times too. Kaze was just doing what he was taught. But it always fixed itself._

_"Stupid gods," Tsuchi would mutter._

_"Tupit odds," Kaze would try to repeat._

_Tsuchi simply shrugged the first time she heard him say it. "Close enough, kiddo."_

_He thought that Tsuchi was his sister at the time, but he grew up watching her mental stability fall bit by bit. Kaze couldn't even remember a time when she_ was  _stable._

_She cried a lot. She got angry at Hermes so often for leaving them, and Kaze hated him, if not for the reasons Tsuchi did, for hurting his sister like that. Kaze was born with the hatred of the gods within him. Sometimes he came back from a little stealing mission and hear Tsuchi crying to the empty room about Hermes leaving her, not even wanting to see his son. Kaze tried to comfort his sister, but Tsuchi's life was never destined to be long._

_Her blaspheming against the gods was the reason that Kaze had come to believe was the cause - only augmenting his hatred of them - but Tsuchi was killed by hellhounds. Kaze and Tsuchi were both screaming for Hermes, but eventually Tsuchi's desperation turned to rage._

_"Help her!" Kaze was shouting to the sky, using the most pleading tone he could manage, one that always worked on humans. "Help mommy!"_

_It wasn't working. Usually_ everyone _fell for the 'mommy' card._

_"You traitor! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"_

_Kaze had run away when the hounds had bitten her to draw blood._

_"Kill him, Kaze. Kill him if it's the last thing you do! KILL HIM!"_

_That was the last thing he heard from her._

_She died mad at love, or mad_ with _it. She had loved so hard that losing it had destroyed her._

_Meanwhile, Kaze ran into a man in charge of the hellhounds. He didn't know who the man was, he thought that Hades was the only one who could send out hellhounds. Instead, Kaze had thought he'd finally met his father. He wanted to believe that he'd come for them to help. He called for his help, he tried everything he could, he used all the pleading techniques he could think of._

_"Mommy needs help!"_

_He tried to pull at the man's leg, but Kaze was too tiny to do much. Men were a lot bigger than Tsuchi._

_"Mommy!" He urged. "_ Mommy! _"_

_"Your articulation is very advanced for your age. Interesting."_

_Kaze didn't understand the man's big words, he only ever focused on his mother's. He just tried to think of something that he was saying wrong since the man wasn't coming to help his mother._

_"Mommy hurt! Mommy!"_

_The man reached down to grab him, before turning away from where Tsuchi was._

_"No! Mommy!" He pointed to try and communicate the direction, but the man ignored him. "Mommy there!"_

_The hellhounds came back, drooling blood as they growled and stalked the man. But instead of attacking the man, they simply followed him loyally. Kaze realized the truth, even with his young mind. One of the hounds choked, coughing up chunks of fluff. Slowly but surely, the plushie resembling Hermes reformed in its mouth, and Kaze snapped._

_His mom hated that stupid thing, but she carried it around everywhere. It reminded her of her hatred, and at the same time, the hope that she'd once had. She seemed to abhor it, but at the same time, she was more afraid of losing it than she was angry at having it._

_Kaze struggled his way free of the man's grip with more strength than a child of his size should've been capable, falling to the ground and rolling to survive the drop. He then ran up to the hellhound and grabbed the plushie, pulling hard until it came free of the dog's grip. He fell on his butt, but the doll was in his hands, and that was all that mattered._

_Kaze was grabbed again, and this time, he didn't have anything to fight for and no hope of escape. He allowed himself to be taken away, hugging his Hermes plushie. It was an object that held nothing but regret and heartbreak, but at the same time, it was all he had left._

_Kaze was taken by the true masters of the hellhounds. He was taken to Ward X._

_It wasn't a pleasant place, but then again, Kaze had never known anything better. He had a strict schedule, and though he had multiple disciplinary problems at first, he was quick to learn that he just needed to pretend to be a good kid and not get caught, and suddenly he was golden. He kept his toy the entire time. Whenever some of the grown ups tried to take it from him, he was always prepared with tricks and traps. They learned it wasn't worth the effort trying to take it away. No doubt they would've continued trying to liberate him of it just for the sake of seeing what happened when they did, but Kaze could be pretty persuasive when he wanted to be._

_Kaze kept a journal of things in his free time, as he was pretty content with his life, there, but it wasn't long before he started to get bored._

_Just in time, that was when Rei Fang was brought to Ward X, and he finally found something that was entertaining. But it wasn't long before he started to like Rei, and he made a deal with her - they would leave that place together or not at all._

_And so the two of them became brother and sister, unaware of the future that laid ahead of them._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:
> 
> 'Kare wa totemo kawaikattadesu' (彼はとてもかわいかったです) - He was very cute.
> 
> 'Karera wa hidzuke o motte ita' (彼らは日付を持っていた) - They had dates.
> 
> Also the quotes Veon is using are from 'A Midnight Summer's Dream.' A weird play to be sure, but the moment that I read those quotes, I was like "I'm gonna put those in my story!" I read the book two years ago, by the way, so you can tell that I've had this story in my head for a looooong time now.


	25. It's Okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so busy.
> 
> I've missed a couple days of school thanks to choir because I have to go sing in front of judgy jugdes and it's a busy time of the year with Thanksgiving coming up and a lot to teach, not to mention politics here in the U.S. have significantly deteriorated my mental state. That combined with my stress of catching up for my missed days of school and all the homework and topics that I only half understand have resulted in me wanting to escape to Fanfic but being unable to. That also adds to the pain. Not to mention that I have after-school activities to participate in, a fundraiser hoedown that requires dancing at a very fast beat, learning after the dance instructor explains it once or twice and doesn't give me time to practice it, and overall it's entertaining but not when I'm so pissed off. The event is this weekend, and therefore I will have a 5th weekend where I have something booked - from a play, to competitions, to this fundraiser. I am in a very bad mood.
> 
> (Haha, I'm posting this while in my English class. We're preparing for an essay but I've got plenty of time with the computer so…"
> 
> Therefore, I'm gonna post this chapter and hope that this weekend I can get to more important things. Like my Shadowhunters series. Yeah, that's important.
> 
> Hope you're all happier than I am!
> 
> Enjoy! :)

First Person: Zytaveon

"Kaze!"

Kaze suddenly froze after Cupid's statement about his mother. His eyes were glazed over. For a moment, he looked happy, and then he looked horrified and on the verge of tears.

I heard Cupid's laugh echo through the wind. " _He is living in the memory of the pain that destroyed his mother. Love is cruel, it fought past her barriers, and then it drove her_   _mad._ " Cupid chuckled. " _And now he will see the love that will destroy him._ "

Kaze gasped and lost his balance, falling against one of the broken pillars. It gave way behind him and he fell on the ground, looking like he was cowering from something in front of him while his eyes were still glazed over with a vision. He started to cry. He started to sob.

"Kaze!" I ran over and shook his shoulders. "Kaze, wake up!"

He shuddered, his breaths uneven, as his eyes began to clear. He saw me and started trying to explain, but his sobs were too heavy for anything to be made out. He was speaking Japanese again, so either his gem had run out of power or he simply forgot that he could translate to English - whatever he'd seen had shaken him that much.

" _Kaze, listen to me, take deep breaths. What did you see?_ "

" _I couldn't…I couldn't stop it! He…_ "

" _Who, Kaze?_ "

He shook his head. " _I-I don't know, but he…_ "

Kaze stuttered, trying to make me understand through telepathy or something.

" _Kaze, stay here. Get ahold of yourself._ "

He nodded weakly, his breath still shaky and his entire body trembling.

Jason swung at Cupid, his powers over wind seeming to help him slightly in seeing Cupid and predicting his movements. Cupid was invisible until he wanted to be or when he was asleep, I remembered. It was when he was sleeping that his wife had been able to see him.

" _Unfortunately, you could not wield the scepter, Jason Grace. Only a child of the Underworld can summon the dead legions. And only an officer of Rome can lead them._ "

"But…" Jason wavered.

He  _was_  an officer. He was a praetor. But he had had so many second thoughts about where he belonged. In New Rome, he'd offered to give up his position to Percy Jackson. Did that make him unworthy to lead a legion of Roman ghosts? Zyanya had had the most power back when we had been at Camp Jupiter. If I had Order within me now in the form of Chuck, then maybe I had the power to order the dead legion. Maybe I had  _some_  kind of power at the very least.

"Just leave that to us," I said.

"Nico or Veon can do the summoning," Jason agreed. "And-"

"Nico!" Kaze screamed.

A third arrow zipped past, and Jason couldn't stop it in time. Kaze was a blur, he grabbed his shuriken and threw it at speed, the weapon slicing through the arrow with enough force to cause a boom from it breaking the sound barrier, sending Nico stumbling back. Kaze held out his hand and summoned his weapon back to his hand. Kaze sliced his shuriken through the air as more arrows were smashed in his defensive attacks against Cupid's arrows that sailed towards him.

" _You can fight me, Kaze Yamasatchi, but it will do nothing to change your fate._ "

" _I am Kaze_ Grigora!" He shouted.

Kaze threw his shuriken at Jason, and the son of Jupiter ducked just in time for Kaze's weapon to sail past and slice an arrow aimed at Nico. As his weapon was coming back at him, an arrow sank into Kaze's left arm - the arm that he held and threw his weapon with. Though he switched between his two arms, a little observation would show that he tended to favor his left arm. As his shuriken came back to him, it suddenly veered off to the side as Kaze stumbled and his arm went limp. The arrow dissolved, leaving no blood and no visible wound, but his face was tight with rage and pain.

His weapon clanged to the ground, sliding to a stop a few meters away.

"Nico!"

Nico tried to dodge it since he knew that it was coming, but he only moved into the path of the arrow that suddenly appeared. I had already predicted that he wouldn't be able to dodge, grabbing his arm and shadow traveling him a couple feet away as the arrow missed him and dug its way into my sword arm. I couldn't feel my arm, the flaring pain surging through me and nearly causing me to go into shock. There was no wound, no blood, no arrow, and I had to work hard to use deep breaths to fight the shock. When Nico reappeared, he held his arm as he felt a dull reflection of what I was through our bond, his teeth gritted with rage.

"Enough games!" Nico spat. "Show yourself!"

" _It is a costly thing,_ " Cupid said. " _Looking into the true face of Love._ "

Another column toppled. Jason and I scrambled out of its way. Instictively, I rolled in the direction of Nico to act as his shield. I felt my heart pounding in my ears, but I knew that Cupid wouldn't be able to kill me. I had a Primordial within me, and no matter how mean Chuck was in his trials, he needed me alive to complete or fail them. Still, it was hard to believe that I was going to make it out of this encounter alive, or at least conscious.

" _My wife Psyche learned that lesson,_ " Cupid said. " _She was brought here eons ago, when this was the site of my palace. We met only in the dark; some say that we met in the light but I was invisible. She was warned never to look upon me, and yet she could not stand the mystery. After a visit from her jealous sisters, she feared I was a monster. One night, she lit a candle, and beheld my face as I slept._ "

"Were you  _that_  ugly?" Jason asked.

He seemed to think he'd zeroed in on Cupid's voice - at the edge of the amphitheater about twenty yards away - but he needed to make sure. Kaze was keeping his eyes on where Cupid moved, but he was started to have to second guess himself as he caught up and traced where Cupid moved. It seemed that Cupid had held still for just a second, and Kaze was looking in a different direction, even pretending to be busy grabbing a salve from his pocket to put on his arm. At the same time, his sword arm was twitching and his shuriken was shaking, ready to return to him at a moment's notice.

"He was perfect," I said. "Not ugly, Jason."

The god laughed. " _Your friend is right. Knowing Thanatos's face, he is mostly familiar with mine as well. I was too handsome, I'm afraid. A mortal cannot gaze upon the true appearance of a god without suffering consequences._ "

"Psyche was said to have been the most beautiful mortal woman in existence," I explained. "Aphrodite already disliked her because people had actually stopped worshiping Aphrodite and instead worshiped Psyche as a god instead. So Aphrodite summoned Eros to make her fall in love with something gross as punishment. Eros went down to do the deed and immediately fell in love with Psyche upon seeing her, accidently stabbing himself with one of his own love arrows."

" _You didn't have to share_ that _part,_ " Cupid complained.

"Anyway," I said loudly. "Psyche's beauty left her a lonely princess with too many suiters and none worthy of her. She wanted true love, but all people cared about were her looks. And so she went to the oracle but was told she'd find true love in the form of a terrible monster that even the gods fear. So Zephyr took her to Eros's palace and she learned that her boyfriend would be invisible throughout their relationship - along with the servants of his palace, but they were less important - which she was okay with. All things considered, it was a fine offer. Then, her jealous sisters visited and put the notion in her head that her boyfriend was an evil monster and to kill him before he killed her and her unborn child. Also she had an unborn child during all of this stuff afterwards. Of course, then, she was convinced to go into Eros's with a lamp and found out that he wasn't a monster but Eros, stabbing  _herself_  with one of Eros's arrows, as if she wasn't in love enough. So then he wakes up - because  _apparently_  the lamp oil thought he was cute and jumped onto him for… _reasons!_  Not sure I believe  _that_  part, but in all honesty, every story has a truth even if it gets a bit distorted. Anyway, Eros woke up because 'o _w!_ ' and then he flew off because ' _betrayal!_ ' and Aphrodite takes the opportunity to ruin Psyche's life. Also Zephyr dropped her sisters off a cliff when they tried to visit Eros's palace again, so I guess there's  _some_  comeuppance."

" _That's right. My mother, Aphrodite, cursed Psyche for her distrust. My poor lover was tormented, forced into exile, given horrible tasks to prove her worth. She was even sent to the Underworld on a quest to show her dedication. She earned her way back to my side, but she suffered greatly._ "

"The ants had to help her, a water spirit, and then even  _Zeus_  sent down a freaking eagle to help her. At that point,  _everyone_  was against Aphrodite and thinking this was overkill. She was  _not_  liked. Then she also cheated on Hephaestus and was the cause of everything in the Trojan war. Personally, Aphrodite feels a  _lot_ worse than you, Eros."

" _My dear Psyche did go to the Underworld to meet Persephone and retrieve what she believed to be pure beauty. In preparation of seeing me again, she opened the box to see that she was wrong. Persephone had no intention of killing Psyche, but what Aphrodite could survive, Psyche could not. She was only mortal at the time, after all. I was lucky to have escaped my mother's watchful eye and save Psyche, bringing my case to Olympus to properly marry her._ "

"Aphrodite would have to become a grandmother," I pointed out. "Now  _that_  probably amused Zeus enough to agree to it."

Jason thrust his sword in the sky and thunder shook the valley. Lightning blasted a crater where the voice of Cupid had been speaking. After that, there was silence. Surely that couldn't have worked.

"Jason, do not let guard down!" Kaze shouted.

He tossed a grenade with his good arm and it exploded in the air. Cupid grunted, but Jason was still knocked to the ground by an invisible force, his sword skittering across the road.

" _A good try, Jason Grace, but you should leave this to your friends. They know much better than you._ " His voice was already distant from Jason. " _Love cannot be pinned down so easily._ "

Next to him, a wall collapsed. Jason barely managed to roll aside.

"Stop it!" Nico yelled. "It's me you want! Leave him alone!"

Jason's ears were ringing, he was dizzy from getting smacked around, and his mouth tasted like limestone dust. He didn't seem to understand why Nico would think of himself as the main target.

" _Poor Nico di Angelo._ " The god's voice was tinged with disappointment. " _Do you know what_ you _want, much less what I want? My beloved Psyche risked everything in the name of Love. It was the only way to atone for her lack of faith. And you - what have you risked in my name?_ "

"I've been to Tartarus and back," Nico snarled. "You don't scare me."

" _I scare you very, very much. Face me. Be honest._ "

The ground at our feet shifted. The grass withered, and the stones cracked as if something was moving in the earth beneath, trying to push its way through. Both Nico and I were getting pissed now. Nico was afraid, I was afraid for him.

"Give us Diocletian's scepter," Nico said. "We don't have time for games."

" _Games?_ " Cupid struck, slapping Nico sideways into a granite pedestal. I caught him before he got himself a concussion, pulling him so that he was stable on his feet. " _Love is no game! It is no flowery softness! It is hard work - a quest that never ends. It demands everything from you - especially the truth. Only then does it yield rewards._ "

I sighed. Cupid had a point. I was getting really pissed off by him, but at the same time, I knew that he was speaking nothing but the truth. Love could destroy everything that you have - the fear of losing it or a guarantee causing it to lose meaning. In this life especially, as a demigod, you had to fight hard to keep someone you love with you. To keep them alive when choosing between them and the greater good. To balance your demons when both of you no doubt have plenty.

"And therefore is Love said to be a child Because in choice he is so oft beguiled," I muttered.

" _I am not a child!_ " Cupid whined, suddenly sounding a little more indignant than an adult would be.

"Got any more of those?" Nico asked.

"That was my last one," I admitted.

Jason had pulled himself up and retrieved his sword. If this guy was Love, Jason was beginning to think Love was overrated. He liked Piper's version better - considerate, kind, and beautiful. Aphrodite may have some questionable history, but neither she nor Cupid were monsters. Love could be the most painful thing in the world, yet we still clamor for it. Aphrodite could be destructive in a kind way, her weak innocence looking harmless at first, but in reality she could tear you apart with your desires. Cupid, however, wasn't as subtle. Cupid seemed more like a thug, an enforcer.

"Nico!" Jason called. "What does this guy  _want_  from you?"

" _Tell him, Nico di Angelo,_ " Cupid crooned, sounding like a bully trying to get a ten-year-old to admit his crush. I guess that  _was_  what Cupid was doing. Maybe that childish rhyme wasn't as far off as I had thought. " _Tell him you are a coward, afraid of yourself and your feelings. Tell him the real reason you ran from Camp Half-Blood, and why you are always alone._ "

Nico let loose a guttural scream. The ground at our feet split open and skeletons crawled forth - dead Romans with missing hands and caved-in skulls, cracked ribs, and jaws unhinged. Some were dressed in the remnants of togas; others had glinting pieces of armor hanging off their chests. I felt a sudden collapse in my chest, as though the floor had fallen out from under me or a black hole had opened in my chest and I couldn't escape it while it sucked away everything inside me. I was scared, I wanted to run but the threat was inside me. Like dividing by zero.

" _Will you hide among the dead, as you always do?_ " Cupid taunted.

Waves of darkness rolled off the two of us. A powerful hatred and fear and shame overwhelmed us, sending Jason and Kaze staggering when they felt the pulse. Jason nearly lost consciousness, Kaze instantly had tears streaming down his face, as though he had been squeezed from the inside out.

I saw Nico memories, him and his sister on a snowy cliff in Maine, Percy Jackson protecting them from a manticore. Percy's sword gleamed in the dark. He had been the first demigod Nico had ever seen in action. Later, at Camp Half-Blood, Percy took Nico by the arm, promising to keep his sister Bianca safe. Nico believed him. Nico looked into his sea-green eyes and thought, ' _How can he possibly fail? This is a real hero._ ' He was Nico's favorite game, Mythomagic, brought to life.

" _He'll make a mistake you can't forgive him for_."

It was…Lu? No, this was Zyanya at the time.

" _Who are you?_ "

" _You won't know for a long time, Nico. I'm just here to say. Percy Jackson has a weight on his shoulders that is bigger than the world and all its people. You won't ever forgive him. But you_ can _accept him. Accept yourself._ "

" _I don't know what you're talking about._ "

" _He'll fail you Nico. But you must not destroy yourself because of it._ "

" _He won't fail. He_ won't."

She nodded towards the camp, towards Percy. " _Go and see. And do not lose yourself._ "

Nico looked to Percy, then sprinted to speak to him.

I saw the moment when Percy returned and told Nico that Bianca was dead. Nico had screamed and called him a liar. He'd felt betrayed, but still…when the skeleton warriors attacked, he couldn't let them harm Percy. He remembered what the strange woman had said, and now he understood why she'd said it. He didn't lose control. Nico had called on the earth to swallow them up, and then he'd run away - terrified of his own powers, and his own emotions.

There were a dozen more scenes like this from Nico's point of view, leaving Jason and Kaze stunned, unable to move or speak.

Meanwhile, Nico's Roman skeletons surged forward and grappled with something invisible. The god struggled, flinging the dead aside, breaking off ribs and skills, but the skeletons kept coming, pinning the gods arms.

" _Interesting!_ " Cupid said. " _Do you have the strength, after all? Or is it just your brother, shielding you and enabling you to hide from yourself? What do you know of Love, Zytaveon? You have studied it, yes, you have learned to empathize, act as though you understand, but do you really?_ "

I felt dizzy as I suddenly remembered a vision of the past.

_We were sitting in our chemistry class together, watching the teacher give a demonstration on how to properly do the lab we were working on that day. When the teacher was done and dismissed the groups to get their supplies, Lu grabbed the empty beaker we were to mix the chemicals in as well as the powder and food coloring, and then she grabbed the Bunsen Burner._

_As her partner, since we sat next to each other as the silent shy kids, I was in charge of getting each of the two chemicals that we were gonna mix. While Lu was getting the Bunsen Burner, she ran into john, who was also getting the Bunsen Burner for him and his partner._

_"Hey, so what about that offer?"_

_"John, I'm not going with you," She said firmly. "I'm going with my friends, nothing more."_

_"But don't your friends all have dates? You can't go to Homecoming_ alone! _"_

_"No, not all of them have dates. And I've gone single before, so have many others. You can learn what it's like yourself this year."_

_She walked away with her Bunsen Burner and to our station to plug it in. John, meanwhile, went to his own station as I approached Lu with the first of the two chemicals._

_"500 mils?" Lu asked with a small smile._

_"500," I confirmed with a returning smile. "Be back with the other 500 in a sec."_

_Our interactions had been small at the beginning of the year, but our relationship was definitely improving bit by bit as we became good acquaintances and close to friends even. At the beginning, I was afraid that all those movies about high school would be true, and as a demigod, it wasn't really easy to make friends. I could get along with people, but I preferred to be quiet. Apparently, so did she._

_When I had first come to school, the rumors about her struck me. She had recently been adopted from Japan as a teenager and was brought to Colorado. Being adopted as a teenager had to have been tough, and she was no doubt a bit anti-social. I figured that she was quiet and so was I and so we wouldn't bother each other._

_Our friendship seemed to make John seethe._

_I grabbed the final chemicals and walked over to our station where we were working. Just as I walked past, John twisted his foot right as I was passing, my foot caught on John's shoe, and I stumbled forward, trying to regain my balance. Now, I had been tripped before and had learned to keep my cool - especially when carrying precious objects in my arms/hands. My puppy, fragile objects, and dangerous chemicals._

_I didn't drop the beaker at least._

_But the liquid inside sloshed from the sudden change in motion and covered Lu in the chemicals before my momentum caused me to crash into her, getting the chemicals all over me as well. I set the beaker down and began apologizing profusely while the other students exclaimed in surprise and the teacher shouted for us to get to the shower._

_We rushed over to the open shower in the chem room for these kinds of accidents and I pulled the chain to rain down freezing cold water on the two of us. Lu actually screamed at the cold feeling and shivered the entire way through, the cold water actually seeming to cause her pain._

_"Bad history with water," She whispered._

_The other students were ordered out of the room through the second door since the first was right next to the shower, and the teacher walked the two of us through taking off our clothes and telling us to scrub down while he went to get us each a change from the nurse's office (since throwing up on your own clothes or dress code issues happened pretty often, not to mention when you forgot to bring gym clothes so they had some unisex sized outfits)._

_I was apologizing in my head a million times as the two of us were half-naked under the stream standing back to back. I wanted to say something aloud, but I'd already said a couple apologies out loud and I didn't want to become a pest._

_When our clothes finally came, I accidentally caught a glimpse of Lu's black sports bra and she glanced very subtly at his shirtless self._

_I stuck my face in the freezing cold stream and tried to block out the embarrassment._

_I had turned most of my enemy monsters to dust, so I didn't exactly have muscle from fighting and I wasn't a sports guy either, so I didn't exactly look like I was prepared to take my shirt off. Sadly people always tended to think I_ was _in sports because of my big frame. I couldn't blame my genes for making me freakishly tall. There were boys taller than me in school, plenty in fact, but they were all in some kind of sport - particularly basketball. Compared to Lu, who was literally the second shortest in the entire drama club (we had done an activity that had made us line up in order of height and I was the third tallest at the other side of the line) I felt like a giant. I mean, she'd had a growth spurt since the beginning of the year, which made us a little closer to the same size, but still._

_"Dignity doesn't matter when you're covered in dangerous chemicals," Our teacher had declared, which didn't make either of us feel any better._

_We were taken to the office once we'd dried - granted our hair was still sopping wet - where we had to wait outside to tell the principal what happened and to have our parents pick us up. Dammit, I had work to do in my math class today! Now I was gonna have to hope the teacher posted the right information online - which he only did half of the time. At least missing gym class wasn't too hard; I just had to come in and ride a stationary bike for a few minutes._

_"I'm sorry," I said again._

_It just came out._

_"You don't have to apologize," Lu said. "I saw what John did. He asked me to Homecoming but I said no. So now he's lashing out at anyone he thinks I could be dating - aka every guy within a two mile radius. What if I'm homosexual, what then?! Or bisexual. Would he just attack everyone at school?!"_

_"Are you?"_

_"No, but that's not the point."_

_I lowered my head. "I'm still sorry. I'm usually more balanced than that, I definitely could've avoided that whole thing if I'd just been paying attention more, and I_ have _regained my balance without spilling anything in even worse situations, but without the whole chemical thing."_

 _"Veon, it's_ okay. _"_

 _I admit that I choked up. She had called me '_ Veon. _' She'd only ever known me as '_ Zytaveon _' thanks to the role call at the beginning of the year. I didn't have any demigod friends, the gods always got my name wrong and…well, no one had ever given me a nickname before. Then again, when the teacher gave up two months into school with the whole seating chart system and said "You guys can choose your seats from now on," she chose to sit next to me. I had moved to the other side of the back of the room to get out of her way, but despite the fact that there were still plenty of seats in the back she could have chosen, she instantly looked for me and quickly moved to take the seat next to me as though she was afraid someone else might. It had made me forget to breathe for the rest of the day, thinking maybe there was another meaning to her actions while also telling myself that it was just because I was quiet and she liked that I was a reliable partner that didn't talk too much. Or maybe it was because she liked him a little. No she didn't. Obviously she didn't. What was he thinking?! But_ maybe…

_"S-Sorry…" I managed._

_Gods, did my_ voice just crack?!

_She sat in silence, so I mimicked her. We each went in, one by one, to the principal and told him about what happened, before an announcement called for John to come to the principal's office. John arrived a few minutes later, glaring at me, and I shrank into my seat and stared at the carpet. The chem teacher came in with a report from asking all the other kids what happened and John came back out of the principal's office with a very unhappy scowl. He walked out, and I let out a deep breath I was unaware I'd been holding._

_"Look, I have an extra Homecoming ticket since my friend Riana said she was coming from another school, but she backed out saying that she wasn't, and I've never had a date to Homecoming before, so do you wanna come?"_

_I took many moments to realize what she had just said. For a second, I forgot how to speak, but forced myself to start before I was ready and began stuttering syllables. "A-ah-wa-whe-w-what?"_

_"John isn't gonna stop pestering me until I prove that I actually have a date, and he's just trying to weed out the potentials, so I wanna get back at him by showing his efforts are in vain. Can you help me stick it to him and go with me to Homecoming so that he can see that his meddling actually got us together rather than deterred us?"_

_"U-Uh…s-so you're saying…"_

_"We can just go as friends, but…I'd rather not be alone this time. Have you bought a ticket yet?"_

_"N-No I was…" I swallowed. "I was gonna get one at lunch today."_

_She gave a warm smile. "Well, there'll be a free ticket in it for you too. If nothing else, consider it an apology for all of this happening. If you're available, of course…"_

_"Yeah!" I said too loudly. "I-I mean I was already going anyway, just gonna run around saying 'Hi' to anyone I know, steal some free popcorn and cookies and punch that I hope isn't spiked-" She laughed, and it seemed to ease a bit of the tension bubbled within me. "-but I don't have a date."_

_She nodded. "Cool, cool. So you'll help?"_

_"Yeah, yeah, I'd love to."_

The scene shifted to the dance.

_When I saw Lu standing at the entrance, waiting out of the long line for me, my heart seemed to speed up for some reason. Stupid teenage hormones. Just play it cool and hope not to get too hot and sweaty in my tux. No prob._

_"Hey," I said._

_Yup, totally smooth._

_"Oh, I, uh…here's the money for my ticket."_

_I dug a twenty out of my pocket._

_She looked alarmed. "You didn't have to-"_

_"I wanted to."_

_She sighed. "This was supposed to be an apology for what happened in chem."_

_"And a way to get back at John. Let's shove it in his face tonight, and we'll call it even."_

_She laughed and accepted the money, sticking it into a small golden back with a Chinese symbol on the front. It went well with her navy blue dress that had sleeves and a small V-neck with a skirt that went to her knees. She had tall heels that made her a couple inches taller than normal. The top of her head almost reached my eyebrows. I still didn't understand how she survived in those shoes considering I'd never seen her in anything beyond wedged tennis shoes at best, regular tennis shoes at other times._

_"Thanks, but the tickets are only $15 and I don't have a 5 on me, sorry."_

_"Don't worry about it. You can pay me back later."_

_She passed me my ticket. "So…shall we go in?"_

_We got into line and made small talk. I realized how nice it was, actually speaking to each other. It was a lot easier than I thought it'd be, and even when we ran out of conversation topics and were suddenly silent, neither of us were bothered by it. We just picked up where we left off once we found something to say again._

_"Why would all those people wait until_ today _to buy their tickets," Lu asked. "These things are $15 before, but now they're $20 and the line is longer."_

 _"I_ know! _" I exclaimed. "They've had a_ week _to buy tickets. Honestly."_

_Another moment of silence, but it was far from awkward. We moved through the line and finally got it, walking into the cafeteria. Together we got popcorn, laughing together as we tried to toss it into each other's mouths. We bonded over our mutual hatred of hard cookies as opposed to soft ones, and then we bonded over our mutual lack of dancing skills. It was mostly a night of jumping to the beat with the crowd, singing at the top of our lungs to a song, or interacting with others here and there._

_The one dance we_ did _know, however, was the Cupid shuffle. Along with the Cha-cha-slide._

_Then, the slow dance was announced by the DJ, and the two of us looked to each other._

_"Mrs. Neil?"_

_John was there, holding his hand out. That's right, her last name of her adopted parents had given her the name Neil. Man, I'd nearly forgotten that after everything that we'd been through._

_She looked at me nervously, unable to resist the offer without a valid reason. We hadn't exactly discussed what we were here as - dating or just friends. Instinctively, to avoid an awkward moment and being rude, she took his hand and began to follow him as he led her off._

_"Wait!"_

_I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back._

_"She promised me a dance first."_

_She looked at me gratefully. "Don't feel bad, John. It's just standing there pretending we're dancing. You can have your turn later."_

_I linked arms with Veon and walked off._

_"Or never," I muttered._

_She snorted. "You got that right."_

_We stopped, hidden in the crowd, and she moved my hand into position at her waist - which was good, since I had no idea where I was supposed to put my arms in the first place. She put her hand on my shoulder and then laced our fingers. We had to stand close together, she staggered our feet so we weren't stepping on each other's feet, and then she reminded me how to step for the dance, as I already knew (thank you drama club). About five or six other groups were doing a waltz as well while the rest of the uninformed school just kinda swayed. Losers who weren't in drama club where we were specifically taught to dance._

_"You are_ interesting _, Zytaveon," She said. For a moment, it seemed like her accent had changed. There was an odd sparkle in her eyes. "I think you'll do very nicely."_

_"What?"_

_She blinked and that look in her eyes was gone, her voice as normal and soft as ever. "Nothing. You're pretty good at this. Where'd you learn?"_

_"Drama club."_

_"Oh, cool. Does this school have one?"_

_"Yeah, our first meeting is next Tuesday."_

_"I might join. I'm gonna be in the props department for the play, but that doesn't mean I'm not a good actor."_

_"I'm trying out for props too, but I have costumes as a backup."_

_"Well, there's only one props assistant position for this year's play. You might make the musical though."_

_"Oh, it is_ on _, Neil."_

_"May the best thespian win, Kanazoi."_

_The dance fell into a nice rhythm, and I relaxed against her as we stepped and turned and spoke with laughter. After the slow dance, the two of us hung out in the cafeteria where we could properly talk. As the night came to an end, we went back into the gym for the final few songs, the third to last song being another slow one._

_"Why do we need more than one?" Lu complained._

_"That unhappy to dance with me?" I asked nervously._

_"Because I said John could have my next one. Do you see him anywhere?"_

_"If you're that nervous, we could leave now, or at least head back to the cafeteria."_

_"Too late, he sees me."_

_I looked up and saw him coming over, considering whether I should take her arm and kidnap her or maybe just turn John to dust._

_"I'll be fine," She assured me. "He doesn't know how to dance anyway."_

_"How do you know? I mean, what if he got prepared just for you?"_

_"I know for a fact that he doesn't dance as well as_ you _."_

_I tensed and hoped that I wasn't blushing. Was a blush really that noticeable in real life? I mean, there were flashing strobe lights and colored lights in the dance floor. Surely she couldn't see. Was my body language giving anything away? Why did I suddenly feel like I couldn't move anything?_

_She walked over to John to meet him midway, shouting a squeaky "Good luck!" like a dork as I panicked to find something to say._

_She just turned back with a smile as she walked to say that she understood. I watched as the two of them began the classic slow dance that all the other normal kids did: girl's arms wrapped around the guy's neck, guy's arms wrapped around her waist with nothing but a slow and hardly noticeable sway._

_To brighten the mood, I made faces each time she spun around to face me, and I saw her giggling over John's shoulder. Eventually, John got pissed off at her constant laughing and turned to see me standing there with as straight a face as I could manage._

_Let's just say, the dance ended a bit earlier than he would've preferred._

_Lu went through the doors and into the cafeteria. I carefully slipped through to follow after her._

_"Haha, that was great!" She exclaimed. "Wanna get out of here?"_

_"Let's move."_

_We left together and Lu offered me a ride._

_"You can drive?" I asked._

_We were only freshman._

_"Sure," She shrugged._

_"Legally?"_

_"I can be very persuasive."_

_I blinked and worried that she might have turned out to be some kind of monster in disguise, or maybe a demigod. There was something in her tone that changed, became more condescending._

_She turned back towards the doors. "Excuse me a sec."_

_She intercepted John and started to have an argument with him, before she dragged him around the building so that I couldn't see anything. As it was_ her _that had taken him back there, I was able to convince myself for a few seconds that nothing bad was gonna happen to her, but my instincts took over and I rushed over to make sure she was okay._

_In the end, she intercepted me just as I was turning the corner._

_"Oh, sorry! Uh…everything okay?" I asked._

_"Yeah," She smiled. "I don't think John'll be bothering us anymore."_

_I wouldn't know it until she told me the story at Camp Half-Blood, but John turned out to be an empousai. A rare male one, but an empousai all the same. Too bad he was trying to hypnotize the one girl that had a goddess inside her. She_ did _explain that he was ostracized for being a male empousai and didn't really have the training for what he did, but as to what happened to him after that short encounter where he seemed to disappear from the face of the earth, I don't know to this day. There was no big announcement about how he went missing, he just simply 'transferred to another school.'_

_After that night together, we realized that we were in the same choir class, just at opposite ends of the room. Lu had always arrived first since her class was closer, sitting at the absolute back of the room on the right in the soprano section, while Veon sat at the front on the left with the tenors. He met Lu's friends, Audrey and Emily, who sat in the middle of the room with the altos. Their lunch hour turned out to be together, and so they all fell into a nice pattern for the rest of the year. And then the next, and then the next. All the way up until a hydra attacked the school._

* * *

When I was brought back to reality, I was breathing hard.

"What the heck was that for?"

" _Love for you was never real, even from the beginning._ "

"What does  _that_  mean?!" I demanded.

" _You saw, Zytaveon. What you fell in love with was nothing but a Primordial playing you for the fool you were. It wasn't you that Order loved, it was Chaos - the idea that you would one day host him. Neither you nor Rei Fang ever knew love, you simply reflected the love of the Primordials using you._ "

"That's…that's not true. I know what I've felt, I know what I feel now!"

" _Really? How has your relationship been? Have you truly been anything more than friends pretending to be more before the Primordials initiated their plan? Has there ever been a moment when you felt love beyond the stars?_ "

"Yes, yes I  _have_  you son of bitch! You should know!"

" _I know that all I've ever seen is the love of the gods and the acting of two children pretending to understand something they never can. Your feelings for one another can never be your own; that is why you so clearly do not love each other and yet there are times when you believe you do._ "

More skeletons started popping up from the ground. "You shut  _up!_  You are Love, whatever! You should know better than anyone except maybe your mother or the Primordials who've watched the world from the beginning that there are things about us dumb humans you can't understand! We exceed your greatest expectations more often than you're willing to admit! You've heard of Zenobia or whatever her name is. It's a god you refuse to accept in the history books, but she's always been there, giving power to humans strength at their weakest, giving them power beyond anything you've ever imagined! We're more powerful than you can possible comprehend, that you ever will  _allow_  yourself to comprehend! So that's why I have the right to say this now: You shut the  _fuck_  up you little  _shit!_  I know what I am, I know who I love, and you can tell me that it's not real because of technicalities all you want, but that doesn't mean I'll take your word as gospel, or  _any_  of you stupid gods that ruin our lives and make us clean up all your messes! I'm risking my life for the world, for my friends, and maybe even for a few of you, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, how we're thrown away because we're expendable to you! You torment me, you torment my brother, and none of it is right yet all of it is justified! It's not fair, death isn't fair, life isn't fair, I  _know_  that! But screw you! Screw  _all_  of this!"

"Veon!"

Jason couldn't come close because of the wave of destruction pouring off of me. If he took anymore steps closer, the life probably would've been sucked out of him just like it was the grass and plants around me. Nico was immune, but even he seemed disturbed. The inanimate objects like the rocks seemed to darken, and even the air had lost a little bit of life to it.

Now, I rarely lost my temper. I kept my cool even when I felt a fury exploding out of my chest like a raging fire tornado, and the only things that could break me were sleep deprivation or a seriously stressful month's worth of work and annoyance that chipped away at me like a hammer and chisel. An insidious, subtle, yet destructive force on my mental state could probably make me snap, but beyond that, I never cursed, I always accepted that there were hardships in life, and I knew that there were some things that couldn't be changed. I was the son of a death god, I had Thanatos as a tutor and the furies as annoying siblings - I knew that death was unfair and learned to accept it. I had worked as a judge in the Underworld. I had seen the differences between someone's heart balanced to a minute detail. There were good people who just weren't good enough and bad people who just weren't bad enough. I had long since learned to accept that the world was never fair, fair shouldn't be a word in the dictionary.

But now, I was just plain pissed.

" _I_ knew _there was a fury hidden within you._ "

I looked up and saw Chuck standing there with a smirk. The world was frozen. Even Cupid was a blur that I could see almost clearly. He didn't want to be seen at this moment, so even freezing the world wasn't going to clear him up, but it wasn't like I didn't know what Cupid looked like. I'd seen Thanatos more than enough times to be used to that kind of creepy beauty that burned your eyes and yet you couldn't look away.

 _"Keep denying it, I dare you. The most dangerous monsters are the ones who still delude themselves into believing they're what they're not. The only way to be compatible with me is to hold a darkness beyond comprehension. You're a chosen one, I chose you because I thought you had a heart strong enough to withstand and host Chaos. But it seems that I have a pension for evil that I just can't shake off, even when I'm a little out of it._ "

"I don't want this…" I muttered, shaking my head. "I don't want this void within me, this fury, this pain. I feel like I can't breathe, that I can't keep my feet on the ground. I don't know what I feel, I don't know what I am, I don't…"

" _It's okay. That's how it's_ supposed _to feel. You're in control, but you're not. Out of the five of you, I chose your girlfriend because she was so perfect. She was broken and she was whole. You are trying to stay whole even though you are cracking. You keep resisting like this, and you will shatter. Rei Fang-Chikara has survived being broken marvelously. You? I can't say what'll happen. It won't be long before I must take you again to the land of destruction. There, you_ will _be destroyed. Whether you come out whole afterwards or you simply remain shattered pieces for eternity within me, that is something that…even I can't predict. You are right, Zytaveon. There are things about human limits that even us Primordials can't understand. That is why Zenobia - or Erótisi, as she is now called - is so interesting to us. And why her demigod child is even more intriguing._ "

I took a deep breath. "What'll happen if we succeed?"

He shrugged. " _We'll take your bodies and use them to fix all that Gaea and Tartarus have wrought. Then…the world continues spinning and we do as we desire._ "

"We'll never have our free will again?"

He shrugged again. " _That is the price of power. But you never know. Sometimes we like having humans take control._ "

I paused, afraid to ask the question he knew that I was going to ask. "Is what he said true? About the two of us?"

Chuck stood straighter. " _I love my wife. I can't say what the love between you and Rei is. Maybe it reflects my love, maybe it augments it, maybe it's all us and no you. I think, personally, that we started your love, but what happens afterwards isn't set in stone. It is all of us and none of us all together. Love isn't clear. Cupid likes to play with your emotions like that, but he's only reflecting the chaos that is humans and their love. Humans like to summarize us gods, and therefore we gods are usually reflecting their basic human…humanness._ "

I looked at Nico. "What about him? What…I can't just let this happen to him."

" _He needs to accept himself. When he does, his life can only get better. The climax is a painful part of the story, but it leads to that cheesy goodness at the end during the falling action, right? In terms your writer mind can understand. He'll only find happiness when he admits what happiness means to him. Does he want friends? Does he want_ love? _He has to tell the world that he wants a better life if he plans on getting one. He deserves one, Zytaveon. Don't let him down._ "

The world shifted. Chuck disappeared, a ripple went through the air and my ears popped as time started moving again.

I looked at my brother. "Nico…you have to do this. It hurts like hell, but you have to get these demons out of you or they'll eat you from the inside out until there's nothing left."

He was trembling from the anxiety, the waves of emotion coming from us both, but he looked at the invisible Cupid that our skeletons were attacking. Neither of us were going to make them stop any time soon, that was for sure.

"I-I left Camp Half-Blood because of love," Nico began. "Annabeth…she-"

" _Still hiding_ ," Cupid taunted, smashing another skeleton to pieces. " _You do not have the strength._ "

"You  _do_ , Nico," I said. "You fought worse than this before, I know you have. Punch it in the face, Nico. Do not let this be the god that defeats you. Love sucks, it can make people stupid and make people afraid, but you are strong enough to control your own feelings. Just this once."

"Nico," Jason managed to say. "It's okay. I get it."

Nico glanced over to Jason, pain and misery washing across his face. To be honest, I had forgotten there was anything more than me and Nico in the world anymore.

"No," Nico said, his voice nearly breaking. "You don't. There's no way you can understand."

" _And so you run away again,_ " Cupid chided. Though he sounded like a child, he was still as threatening as any bully that used words as their greatest weapon. " _From your friends, from yourself._ "

"I don't have friends!" Nico yelled. "I left Camp Half-Blood because I don't belong! I'll never belong!"

The skeletons had Cupid pinned now, but the invisible god laughed so cruelly that I wanted to run over there and simply stab the god, no matter the odds of it actually working. I instead pushed more power into the skeletons to restrain him further. If Nico was going to do this, the least I could do was make sure it was less intimidating.

"Leave him alone, Cupid," Jason croaked. He was still weak from his failed lightning bolt attack and the subsequent jump-scare. "This isn't…"

His voice failed. I knew what had happened. I had wanted to shout that this wasn't Cupid's business so many times, but in reality, this was  _exactly_  Cupid's business.

Something Favonius had said kept buzzing in Jason's ears: ' _Are you shocked?_ '

The story of Psyche finally made sense to him - why a mortal girl would be so afraid. Why she would risk breaking the rules to look the god of love in the face, because she feared he might be a monster. It hardly took convincing from her sisters, but they definitely contributed. The oracle, the storytellers, Psyche, all of them were right. Cupid  _was_  a monster. Love was the most savage monster of all, and it seemed that Jason was finally understanding.

Kaze walked up, placing his right arm on Jason's shoulder and nodding to him (his left arm still stiff from his invisible injury).

Nico's voice was like broken glass. "I…I wasn't in love with Annabeth."

"You were jealous of her," Jason said solemnly, understanding flooding his voice. "That's why you didn't want to be around her. Especially why you didn't want to be around…him. It makes total sense."

All the fight and denial left Nico all at once. The darkness subsided, and I let the Roman dead collapse into bones and crumble to dust.

"I hated myself," Nico said, his voice light. "I hated Percy Jackson."

Cupid became visible - a lean, muscular young man with snowy white wings, straight black hair, a simple white frock and jeans. The bow and quiver slung over his shoulder were no toys - they were weapons of war. His eyes were black from my blinding spell from before, the rhyme about Cupid being painted blind from Shakespeare. The second rhyme was evident as well - Love can transpose form and dignity. The first one was about that Love was blind, the second being that Love affected everyone no matter how they looked. Half of Cupid's face resembled Two-Face from Batman, burnt off and disgusting. Any skin that could be seen was half perfect and then half destroyed. The third poem simply made Cupid a slave to his instincts - as Love often made people - as well as giving him a lack of proper judgment skills. Probably the reason he allowed the skeletons to pin him, showed Kaze a past and a future that could probably lead to disaster, as well as showing me that I now had reason to doubt myself and my own love life and the knowledge of every other emotion I thought I had. The final poem had made Cupid childish, which had been evident in his voice from before.

But now that he was fully visible, he started to repair the damage from the spells. His eyes cleared themselves, turning from black to blood red, as if every Valentine in the world had been squeezed dry, distilled into one poisonous mixture. His face repaired itself, handsome, but also harsh - as difficult to look at as a spotlight. Just like Thanatos, all right.

He watched Nico with satisfaction, as if he'd identified the exact spot for his next arrow to make a clean kill. Maybe this would've been easier wit Cupid  _not_  giving him that look while he was doing this.

"Well done with your spells, little witch. Unfortunately they are far from permanent on me. Still, you show promise."

My rhyming worked because…I was casting spells? Well, that was good to know. Let's pretend I knew that all along when I first started spouting random lines of Shakespeare that came to mind when I thought about Cupid.

"Nico?" I sighed. "It's okay."

"I had a crush on Percy," Nico spat. "That's the truth. That the big secret." He glared at Cupid. "Happy now?"

For the first time, Cupid's gaze seemed sympathetic. He really did remind me of Thanatos - a strong and dangerous front on the outside (I mean Thanatos was literally death and Cupid was love, two forces that were scary as hell but inevitable no matter how hard you fought them) with a small hint of care on the inside. Neither could afford to have feelings, as gods they probably were never born able to. Yet they had people they respected, people they pitied.

"Oh, I wouldn't say Love always makes you happy." His voice sounded smaller, much more human. "Sometimes it makes you incredibly sad. But at least you've  _faced_  it now. That's the only way to conquer me."

It reminded me of this one time that I had been so terrified to know what I was. I pretended to be okay, seeing my dad's world, pretending it was nothing but a fantasy and keeping my feelings distant, but in reality, I was terrified. It all hit me at once, just in the Underworld, for no reason at all. I broke down, realizing that I had lost my normality, that there was no going back, that my days of innocence were over.

And Thanatos had come to me. When we were first introduced, he was very formal and even scary to my young self. But then he explained to me what it was like to be Death, to see people fight him every day, abhor him, but he did what he did because he was necessary to the world. There was a softness to Thanatos, subtle, but firm. In the end, I started to look up to him, and we became good friends. I now started to feel a little bad for lashing out at Cupid. He was just doing what he was made for, and though we hate him, he's necessary to the world. If only we'd met under better circumstances.

Cupid dissolved into the wind.

On the ground where he'd stood lay an ivory staff three feet long, topped with a dark globe of polished marble about the size of a baseball, nestled on the backs of three gold Roman eagles. The scepter of Diocletian.

I knelt and picked it up, handing it to Nico. "It's your reward, Nico. However terribly earned."

He regarded Jason and Kaze as if waiting for an attack. "If the others found out-"

"If the others found out," Jason continued, "you'd have that many more people to back you up, and to unleash the fury of the gods on anybody who gives you trouble."

Nico scowled. I mean, it was definitely true, but it was still cheesy enough to make Nico not feel better in the slightest. Jason could still feel the resentment and anger rippling off of him.

"But it's your call," Jason added. "Your decision to share or not. I can only tell you-"

"I don't feel that way anymore," Nico muttered. "I mean…I gave up on Percy. I was young and impressionable, and I…I don't…"

His voice cracked, and I knew he was about to get teary-eyed. I knew that Nico had tried to convince himself that he'd given up on Percy, and it was easy for that to be the truth when Percy wasn't present. When he  _was_ , well…it was a toss up. Like a storm - that thing about warm air and cold air clashing? - two parts of him fighting to like Percy and to not, clashing and spinning and destroying everything in its path. In the end, he simply observed from afar, containing the storm and pretending like it doesn't exist. Keeping a secret all these years that would've been unthinkable to share in the 1940s, denying who he was, feeling completely alone - even more isolated than other demigods than being a child of the Underworld already made him…

"If it make you feel better," Kaze said, leaning down to meet Nico's gaze that was directed at the ground. "Percy  _was_  cute." He gave a warm smile that made him seem like the child that he really was inside. "I be like you. It is weird, I never thought about it, but it is scary."

I blinked. I think I heard something about that, once before. I think Lu had mentioned it once while I was hiding from Audrey in her room (nothing happened, perverts).

I wrapped my arm around Nico. "It's okay. No one will know until you want them to. Right Jason?"

Jason nodded grimly.

"But he  _is_  right. If the crew knew about this, they'd only back you up and probably smite anyone who ever dared give you crap for it."

Nico didn't looked convinced.

"It's what I would do. What I was ready to do here for you. Have I not proven myself?"

He met my gaze and then dropped his again. A silent way of saying that I was right and I had a point. He trusts me silently, that's how we worked. I liked it, being able to understand someone without words, just a glance.

I felt that way about Lu - we spoke with our eyes. We didn't need to share cheesy romantic things to each other, we didn't need to constantly smile and pretend that we were okay. We didn't lie because we believe in the saying that the eyes are the windows to the soul, the doors even - there is no lying with your eyes. There was no point in trying. Whatever we had, it wasn't nothing, I knew that for sure.

"Nico," Jason said gently. "I've seen a lot of brave things. But what you just did? That was maybe the bravest."

Nico looked up uncertainly. "We should get back to the ship."

"Yeah. Kaze, you and I could fly us-"

"No," Nico announced. "This time we're shadow traveling. I've had enough of the winds for a while."

"In that, we are  _totally_  agreed," I said.


	26. Around Again and Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving! I found the time to finally get back to my writing! Thank the gods and pass the gravy ;)
> 
> Enjoy! :)

First Person: Lucy

My and my mom/dad - you know, I should just call them my parent and get used to these agender pronouns - walked through the streets of New Rome together under the night sky.

"So, do you have anywhere we should start?" I asked. "I-I mean, I guess you've been here a while and stuff, but…"

Erótisi sighed. "Rei, I'm  _so_  happy I had the chance to meet you, but…this isn't how I wanted this meeting to happen."

I lowered my gaze to the ground in front of me as I walked. "I know."

They took a deep breath. "You must know that this is a world of dreams, every part of it. Nothing is real. Even I may not be real at some points in time. It's easy for a god to be transformed into someone else, fade into just another illusion, if they don't have a personality of their own to counter it. In this world, you can't trust anyone. I can't even know for sure if that's really you, my daughter, or merely what I assume she'd look like. After all, you are a spitting image of Ren'ai, the woman that I first possessed when I met your father. Coming here is a dangerous thing for your mental state."

"Isn't it a dream meant to reflect everything that I ever wanted?"

"That could be said. But too much of a good thing, that's hell."

"Like that episode of Twilight Zone where the guy gets everything he ever wanted, but it becomes repetitive and there's no more excitement in life."

"You can have excitement in this life, you can change it up any time you want, depending on your wants and needs. You either start to forget yourself in this dream or you drive yourself mad because you  _can't_. It feels like there's a nagging feeling, a bug flying around in your head, and it's subtle but piercing within your mind. It'll slowly drive you mad."

"I've been mad before. It's a lot more fun. But if it hasn't driven you mad yet, does that mean you're immune?"

Erótisi shook their head. "I just get driven mad without all the benefits of losing my mind. It's painful, it's terrifying, and it's endless. It wears away at your every being when you're a god. For you, your soul will act as a buffer - it'll make you lose your wits and your ability to fully acknowledge pain."

They scoffed and shook their head.

"I was foolish, naïve, so sure of myself and my abilities. I believed that I could host them both. But here I am, trapped still in this land of dreams, unable to find a way to escape. I have been here for years, doing all I can to find a way out. I've rejected Kandai, I've run away and tried to kill myself, and now I've tried accepting the world placed before me, forgotten who I was and what my goals are on countless occasions, and even when I remember, it does me no good. How long has it been if you are here following in my footsteps to your own destruction? An eternity, or merely a decade?"

" _Less_  than a decade since I had to take Order. But we can find a way out. I've been going in and out recently-"

"Tartarus. He pulls you out and back to his realm so that he can take possession of you instead. I see. However, only one of us will be able to escape with Chaos's power. If you succeed, I will be trapped in here until you die and Chaos needs another host. I will be put into a state of limbo, before I will once again be dropped back into this world."

"But…But I  _can_  do something. I  _will_  free you."

"You have a good heart, Rei. You must get it from your father. You certainly didn't get it from me. He was the one who had to teach me about emotions, how to be kind, how to consider how others would react to situations before I acted, and most importantly, how to love. That illusion out there is a making of mine, and now that you're here, he's changed to accommodate your version of him as well, but he seems just as loving as when I knew him."

"He…was, yes. He was great. Just trying his best, with me. Probably had no idea what do do, raising a little girl on his own."

"What do you mean? He had family, no? No one I'd met in person, but those I'd heard about."

"When he went back to his grandmother, she felt…she was  _angered_  to see her daughter and her grandson had fallen for gods. That life got her daughter killed, and she had hoped her grandson would be able to escape it. But when she learned that her grandson was following in his mother's footsteps, was given a child with the godly parent absent, she was so disappointed. So my dad left, went to Britain to raise me, like he'd always wanted to go with you. I needed to learn English if I wanted to understand the people around me, and he taught me Japanese to understand him. Things were good, for a while. It was hard, starting a whole new life, but he managed to get a job at a hospital and we fell into routine. We faced the regular monsters, and he decided that leaving me at a school wasn't a good idea if something disguised itself and got to me, so he homeschooled me. Then…after my fourth birthday, he went out saying he'd be back with a present. I fell asleep that night wondering how long it would take. He didn't come back after that."

Erótisi sighed. "A terrible way to lose your parents. Kandai…" They took a deep breath. "All of this is my fault. If I had never left you, if I had never tried to do these stupid trials and be satisfied with what I had, leave well enough alone…"

There it was again, that emotion, that human feeling that couldn't be ignored.

"Do you know if he…?"

I looked up to them. "What?"

"Do you know if he made it to Elysium? You said he was killed by hellhounds. Meaning he would've gone to Punishment immediately. But the judges can't just let that go,  _Hades_  can't just let that go. The dead go where they're supposed to - those guys don't tolerate mistakes."

"I…I don't know."

I had never checked for my dad in the Underworld in all my visits. He was in my past, I hadn't thought much about him in ages, let alone visiting him. Not to mention I'd also had a goddess within me with a different agenda at the time as well, too, so you know.

Erótisi froze. "We have shifted."

"What?" I asked.

"Chaos has moved."

"How can you tell?"

"You should be able to do so as well if you focus hard enough." They started to walk again, this time with a much faster and more urgent pace. "There's this heavy weight to the atmosphere, a heavy weight in your chest. Get used to it. You need to be able to sense Chaos if you want to gain his powers. If even I can do it, you should be able to as well."

I concentrated and tried to feel a heavy atmosphere that Erótisi was talking about, but…it wasn't easy. Maybe there  _was_  something, or maybe it was just a placebo effect that I thought I sensed simply because I was told I should.

"In this world, you must learn to be one with it," Erótisi said. "At the same time, you must be more than it."

"What does  _that_  mean?"

"Everything and nothing. Be confused. Being confused is okay. This world is  _supposed_  to confuse you."

" _You're_  more confusing than the world at this point."

"Good, I'll take that as a compliment."

They led me through the streets and then to a freaking mansion. "Holy…"

"My house on Olympus," Erótisi explained. "Kandai lives here as well."

"Why don't  _I_  live here?"

"Your apartment with Zykaveon-"

" _Zytaveon_. Why can  _none_  of you get that right?"

"It's a very complicated name."

"No it isn't."

"He's very special, we don't understand him very well. Everything about him is blurry." They opened the door. "He  _is_  cute though, nice choice."

"Thank you. Wait, what do you mean by 'blurry?'"

I followed Erótisi into the mansion. "His heart is so pure, but at the same time, so dark. I don't know what he is or what he's going to be. The other gods must be placing their bets already."

They led me into a giant kitchen that was probably bigger and more expensive than everything that Kaze had ever stolen combined. Well, then again…

Erótisi sighed and leaned against the counter. "So…teaching you about this world…the first thing you have to do is understand what it wants from you."

"It's giving me a world of happiness. Does it want me to give in?"

They shrugged. "It's never worked for me, but you're free to go ahead and try."

Erótisi walked to the fridge and pulled out a sandwich, one of my favorite ones from Target that were like 6 bucks a piece. They grabbed a plate from the pantry and pulled the sandwich out of the wrapping, setting it on the plate and throwing the wrap away. They pulled a bread knife out of the knife holder thing and cut the sandwich in half, flicking the knife so that it was instantly cleaned and then moving the plate in front of me. I took the sandwich gratefully, but took out the tomatoes. The tomato juice from them was good, the tomatoes themselves were blech.

"So…" I chewed and swallowed a bite of the sandwich. "If giving in isn't the right thing and neither is going mad, then what is?"

"That's the question," Erótisi sighed. "Tell me, what do you believe is the hardest thing that you could ever do?"

I took another bite of my sandwich and thought. "Well… _relax_ , I guess." I picked at the bread. "I have never known what it was like to have nothing to fight, nothing to worry about. I was scared of this world, at first, because I felt empty when I arrived. As though everything that I'd ever been through in my past had just been…wiped away. My past makes me who I am, my  _pain_ , and I just…can't imagine life without out it. I kinda feels like suddenly I'm floating away, trying to hang on so that my feet stay on the ground because if I let myself go I'll never come back. I like who I am, I wanna stay this way."

"And yet you look like…' _a train wreck._ '"

"What does that mean?"

"It means, if I used it correctly, that you look terrible. Your heart, it's in shambles. Your body is full of scars, your soul unrecognizable."

"How do you figure?"

"I can see it." They nodded at my chest. "Right there, inside you, is an unimaginable pain. You…you've been scarred by my power, over and over and over. You've…been torn apart in so many ways. Death has tried to take you, you've reached out your hand for Death and begged him to free you from life, and yet you always return."

I ate another bite. "Hundreds of times, yeah. I was taken by a government organization, remember? They wanted to find out what made me tick. Endless energy, endless life. What could they do if they harnessed that power from me, from  _you?_ "

They stared. "I…I'm sorry. I didn't…I didn't know my blessing…would be a curse like that. But of course it would be. Immortality is a curse. I was so foolish back then to not realize such things."

"I'm over it." I wiped a piece of lettuce from the corner of my mouth. "I've learned to cope."

"Have you? Have you really? Or was it just holding Order within you that allowed you to cope?"

"Order came to me when I was 12, I had a few years under my belt by then, running from that organization, protecting my brother. I've lived with my pain before."

"But how long has it been since then? How long has it been since you truly  _felt?_ "

I stared at them, but I knew they were right. I was afraid of what the weight of my past would do to me these days. I knew my past logically, I knew the pain and I could imagine it, but there's always been something blocking out most of it. There are painful parts, parts that I'm afraid to think about even for a second, but what kind of all-encompassing pain is out there for me, really?

"I think I have an idea of what we need to do," Erótisi announced. "There are two solutions, your past and your future. You need to…look at your past and your future for what you want and then-"

* * *

I gasped and took in a deep breath before realizing that was probably a big mistake considering the air was like acid. I coughed hard, trying to get in oxygen rather than whatever else was in the air of Tartarus.

My hand hurt, and I realized that it was because I was gripping the handle to a lantern for dear life. My fingers were cramped, having been wrapped around it for a while now. On my back, a skeleton kitten was purring with the force of a cat much larger than it should've been. I was on the shoulder of Bob the Titan, Percy slung over the other like a bag of sports equipment. Bob lumbered along at a fast pace, even for a Titan, which made it almost impossible for Annabeth to keep up. Annabeth was following behind us, looking weary and horrified.

Losing her sight had been bad enough. Being isolated from Percy had been horrible. But watching Percy die slowly from gorgon's blood poison and being unable to do anything about it - that was the worst curse of all.

My lungs rattled, my skin had started to blister again. I wanted another drink of firewater, but we'd left the River Phlegethon behind. My body felt sore and battered, and I couldn't remember what it was like to  _not_  be in pain anymore. I had just been dreaming a few seconds ago, but something had awoken me violently and everything had been pain again.

Where had I been before this? I was sure I hadn't been in Tartarus.

Annabeth caught me up on the situation as we walked - I let Bob put me down so that I could match Annabeth's pace, and I clipped the lantern to my belt. I held the skeleton kitten - officially dubbed Small Bob, appropriately - in my arms and it purred. Annabeth looked more shaken than ever, and I couldn't blame her. Back when being here was new, sure everything had seemed like a looming journey ahead of us, but now that we were deeper in, suddenly it felt like our initial motivation had been worn away at.

I wondered what Veon was doing. Was he awake? Was he going through Order's trials? Oh gods, what would that make him do?

"How much longer?" Annabeth wheezed.

"Almost too long," Bob called back. "But maybe not."

Very helpful.

The landscape changed again. We were still going downhill, and we had been for a while, apparently. It should've made traveling easier, but the ground sloped at just the wrong angle - too steep to jog, too treacherous to let our guard down for even a moment. The surface was sometimes loose gravel, sometimes patches of slime. We maneuvered around random bristles sharp enough to impale our feet and clusters of…well, not rocks exactly. More like warts the size of watermelons. If I had to guess (and I'm not sure I wanted to) I supposed that Bob was leading us down the length of Tartarus's large intestine.

Still, something about the dangerous experience had me on edge in a good way. It got my heart pounding, my instincts at maximum speed and capacity. I was in a zone. It was a lot easier to deal with danger than it was peace for me.

The air got thicker and stank of sewage. The darkness maybe wasn't quite as intense, but I sadly still glowed in the dark like Riptide thanks to my Apollo genes. I could see Bob mostly because of the glint of his white hair and the point of his spear. He hadn't retracted the spearhead on his broom for reasons that I had to assume meant we were in a really dangerous place.

Percy flopped around as Bob stomped forward. Occasionally Percy would groan in pain, and Annabeth looked like a fist was squeezing her heart.

Emily's story about her tea party with Annabeth, Piper, Hazel, and Aphrodite in Charleston came back to me. Aphrodite had sighed and waxed nostalgic about the good old days of the Civil War - how love and war always went hand in hand. Aphrodite had gestured proudly to Annabeth, using her as an example for the other girls: ' _I once promised to make_ her _love life interesting. And didn't I?_ ' According to Emily, it was best that I missed that encounter, as Aphrodite had also mentioned me and my confusing love life that she was somehow proud of. When Aphrodite was proud of your love life, it probably didn't mean good things.

Annabeth had wanted to throttle the goddess of love, and when do we  _not_  want to? I think we've all had more than our fair share of  _interesting_. Now Annabeth was holding out for a happy ending. Surely that was possible, no matter what the legends said about tragic heroes. There had to be exceptions, right? If suffering led to reward, then Percy and she deserved the grand prize.

I pulled out the folded up ticket to the Homecoming dance where Veon and I had first really connected. I carried it around, buried in one of my pockets that I rarely used in my jacket. We hadn't started dating after that, but we had become great friends. But was that encounter really… _real?_  Zyanya had been watching, she had probably been influencing my every action. I made Veon my friend so that I could destroy his life.

Percy had had a daydream of New Rome - the two of them settling down there, going to college together. At first, the idea of living among the Romans had appalled Annabeth. She had resented them for taking Percy away from her. Now she would accept that offer gladly. If only we survived this. If only a million other long shots paid off.

I wondered if that had been the influence for my dream world in Chaos - a life of peace. Hm, it  _was_  a strange coincidence. Maybe there was a connection, an idea of happiness. But was it really  _my_  happiness? What if I had to choose my  _own_  idea of happiness? ' _Look at your past and your future for what you want._ ' I think I understood what Erótisi was saying before they were cut off.

I concentrated on the present, putting one foot in front of the other, taking this downhill intestinal hike one giant wart at a time. My knees felt warm and wobbly, like wire hangers bent to the point of snapping. Just keep going. Just a little further. Make it to that point a few feet ahead. Just make it to there. I put little markers with my eyes to go forward interval by interval. That was the only way to make yourself keep going, just focus on the smaller intervals. Percy groaned and muttered something I couldn't make out.

Bob suddenly stopped. "Look."

Ahead in the gloom, the terrain leveled out into a black swamp. Sulfur-yellow mist hung in the air. Even without sunlight, there were actual plants - clumps of reeds, scrawny leafless trees, even a few sickly-looking flowers blooming in the muck. Mossy trails wound between bubbling tar pits. Directly in front of us, sunk into the bog, were footprints the size of trash-can lids, with long, pointed toes.

"Oh, so  _this_  is where we are," I muttered.

A creation of Chaos, one that suffered the same curse. How I knew about him, Chaos simply seemed to give me the story, as well as a feeling of pity.

"Drakon?" Annabeth asked with dread.

"Yes." Bob grinned at her. "That is good!"

"Uh…why?"

"Because we are close."

Bob marched into the swamp.

"Step where he steps," I advised. "If Bob is able to stay up, then it's likely the muck is stable enough for us too. It'll help avoid sinkholes."

I hurried after Bob. Annabeth wanted to scream. She hated being at the mercy of a Titan - especially one who was slowly recovering his memory and bringing us to see a 'good giant' (which she was still skeptical to believe in). She hated forging through a swamp that was obviously the stomping ground of a drakon.

But Bob had Percy. If she hesitated, she would lose them in the dark. She hurried after, hopping from moss patch to moss patch and watching where Bob stepped to see where the swamp was stable. At least the terrain forced Bob to go slower. Once Annabeth caught up, she could walk right behind him and keep her eye on Percy, who was mumbling deliriously, his forehead dangerously hot. Several times he muttered " _Annabeth_ " and she fought back a sob.

I reached up and touched Percy's forehead, trying to pour some healing magic into him. Small Bob crawled up my arm and snuggled up to him.

Finally, the yellow mist parted, revealing a muddy clearing like an island in the muck. The ground was dotted with stunted trees and wart mounds. In the center loomed a large, domed hut made of bones and greenish leather. Smoke rose from a hole in the top. The entrance was covered with curtains of scaly reptile skin, and flanking the entrance, two torches made from colossal femur bones burned bright yellow.

What really caught my eye was the drakon skull. Fifty yards into the clearing, about halfway to the hut, a massive oak tree jutted from the ground at a forty-five-degree angle. The jaws of a drakon skull encircled the trunk, as if the oak tree were the dead monster's tongue.

"Yes," Bob murmured. "This is very good."

"Definitely the place," I agreed.

Annabeth did not seem to agree. Before she could protest, Small Bob arched his back and hissed. Behind us, a mighty roar echoed through the swamp - a sound last heard in the Battle of Manhattan.

We turned and saw the drakon charging towards us.

The most insulting part was that the drakon was easily the most beautiful thing in Tartarus. Its hide was dappled green and yellow, like sunlight through a forest canopy. Its reptilian eyes were just like Percy's, a mesmerizing shade of green. When its frills unfurled around its head, I realized what a regal and amazing monster it was that was about to kill us.

It was easily as long as a subway train. Its massive talons dug into the mud as it pulled itself forward, its tail whipping from side to side. The drakon hissed, spitting jets of green poison that smoked on the mossy ground and set tar pits on fire, filling the air with the scent of fresh pine and ginger. The monster even  _smelled_  good. Like most drakons, it was wingless, longer, and more snakelike than a dragon, and it looked hungry.

"Bob," Annabeth said. "What are we facing here?"

"Maeonian drakon," Bob said.

"From Maeonia," I added.

Annabeth would've probably smacked Bob upside the head with his own broom if she could lift it. "Any way we can kill it?"

"You?" I asked, drawing my bow. "No."

The drakon roared as if to accentuate the point, filling the air with more pine-ginger poison, which would have made an excellent car-freshener scent.

"I can hold it off until help arrives," I said. "Any minute-"

"ROOOOOAAAR!"

The giant emerged from his hut. He was about twenty feet tall - typical giant height - with a humanoid upper body, and scaly reptilian legs, like a bipedal dinosaur. He held no weapon. Instead of armor, he wore only a shirt stitched together from sheep hides and green-spotted leather. His skin was cherry red; his beard and hair the color of iron rust, braided with tufts of grass, leaves, and swamp flowers.

He shouted in challenge, but he wasn't looking at us. I jumped one way while Bob pulled Annabeth the other out of the way as a giant stormed toward the drakon. They clashed like some sort of weird Christmas combat scene - the red versus the green. The drakon spewed poison; the giant lunged to one side. He grabbed the oak tree and pulled it from the ground, roots and all. The old skull crumbled to dust as the giant hefted the tree like a baseball bat. The drakon's tail lashed around the giant's waist, dragging him closer to its gnashing teeth. But as soon as the giant was in range, he shoved the tree straight down the monster's throat.

It was gruesome, but it was beautiful. Annabeth looked appalled, but I wanted to take a video of it. The tree pierced the drakon's gullet and impaled it to the ground. The roots began to move, digging deeper as they touched the earth, anchoring the oak until it looked like it had stood in that spot for centuries. The drakon shook and thrashed, but it was pinned fast.

The giant brought his fist down on the drakon's neck. With a  _CRACK_  the monster went limp. It began to dissolve, leaving only scraps of bone, meat, hide, and a new drakon skill whose open jaws ringed the oak tree. It was like Minecraft where the items just appeared when you broke something open or killed something.

"Good one," I smirked.

Small Bob purred in agreement and started cleaning his paws. "Very good," Bob agreed.

The giant kicked at the drakon's remains, examining them critically. "No good bones," He complained. "I wanted a new walking stick. Hmpf. Some good skin for the outhouse, though."

He ripped some soft hide from the drakon's frills and tucked it in his belt

"Uh…" Annabeth wanted to ask if the giant really used drakon hide for toilet paper, but she decided against it. "Bob, do you want to introduce us?"

"Annabeth…" Bob patted Percy's legs. "This is Percy."

I giggled. Annabeth hoped the Titan was just messing with her, though Bob's face revealed nothing.

She gritted her teeth. "I mean the giant. You promised he could help."

"Promise?" The giant glanced over from his work. His eyes narrowed under his bushy red brows. "A big thing, a promise. Why would Bob promise my help?"

Bob shifted his weight. Titans were scary, but compared to the drakon-killer, Bob looked downright runty.

"Damasen is a good giant," I said. "One with Chaos beyond any of his kind."

"He is peaceful," Bob added. "He can cure poisons."

Annabeth watched the giant Damasen, who was now ripping chunks of bloody meat from the drakon carcass with his bare hands.

"Peaceful," Annabeth repeated. "Yes, I can see that."

"Good meat for dinner." Damasen stood up straight and studied Annabeth, as if she were another potential source of protein. "Come inside. We will have stew. Then we will see about this promise."

* * *

Cozy.

The one word that had probably never been used to describe anything in Tartarus, but despite the fact that the giant's hut was as big as a planetarium and constructed of bones, mud, and drakon skin, it definitely felt cozy.

In the center blazed a bonfire made of pitch and bone; yet the smoke was white and odorless, rising through the hole in the middle of the ceiling. The floor was covered with dry marsh grass and gray wool rugs. At one end lay a massive bed of sheepskins and drakon leather; at the other end, freestanding racks were hung with drying plants, cured leather, and what looked like strips of drakon jerky. The whole place smelled of stew, smoke, basil, and thyme.

It reminded me of Hope's Theme ~Confessions~ from FF13-2. It was played during an eclipse, during a dark time, but that little bit of sanctuary. It provided a bit of melancholic hope and comfort in a world without either.

The only thing that Annabeth seemed worried about was the flock of sheep huddled in a pen at the back of the hut. Flashbacks to Polyphemus the Cyclops who are demigods and sheep indiscriminately. She wondered if giants had similar tastes.

Annabeth looked ready to run at any moment, but Bob had already placed Percy in the giant's bed, where he nearly disappeared in the wool and leather. Small Bob hopped off Percy and kneaded the blankets, purring so strongly the bed rattled like a Thousand-Finger Massage. I hopped up onto the bed next to him. The bed was  _so_  nice, but no matter the warmth and comfort, it seemed that sleep refused to manifest, even just a little from my exhaustion. I guess that I wouldn't need sleep with even a hint of any Primordial within me.

Damasen plodded to the bonfire. He tossed his drakon meat into a hanging pot that seemed to be made from an old monster skull, then picked up a ladle and began to stir. Annabeth didn't look eager to be the next ingredient in his stew, but she'd come here for a reason. She took a deep breath and marched up to Damasen.

"My friend is dying. Can you cure him or not?"

Her voice caught on the word ' _friend_.' Percy was a lot more than that. Even  _'boyfriend_ ' really didn't cover it. They'd been through so much together, at this point Percy was  _part_  of her - a sometimes annoying part, sure, but definitely a part she could not live without. I understood that feeling with Veon.

I started to think about what I might have wanted as my paradise. Living with Veon in Rome was cool and all, and it would certainly be the best college to go to, but beyond that, going out there into the world, helping demigods as a backup for when the camps were in peril…that sounded like so much fun.

Damasen looked down at her, glowering under his bushy red eyebrows. Annabeth had met large scary humanoids before, but Damasen unsettled her in a different way. He didn't seem hostile, but at the same time he radiated sorrow and bitterness, as if he were so wrapped up in his own misery that he resented Annabeth for trying to make him focus on anything else.

" _Do you see what you look like?_ " Zyanya whispered.

Damasen was once a host of Chaos, I realized. That was what she was trying to tell me.

"I don't hear words like those in Tartarus," The giant grumbled. "' _Friend_.' ' _Promise_.'"

Annabeth crossed her arms. "How about  _gorgon's blood?_  Can you cure that, or did Bob overstate your talents?"

Angering a twenty-foot-tall drakon slayer probably wasn't a wise strategy, but Percy was dying. She didn't have time for diplomacy.

Damasen scowled at her. "You question my talents? A half-dead mortal straggles into my swamp and questions my talents?"

"Yep," She said.

"In her defense, he killed about a dozen or so arai," I informed Damasen. "It's far more than just gorgon's blood that's killing him. Just gorgon's blood is the last one that was inflicted so it's hit him the hardest."

"Hmph." Damasen handed Bob the ladle. "Stir."

As Bob tended the stew, Damasen perused his drying racks, plucking various leaves and roots. He popped a fistful of plant material into his mouth, chewed it up, then spat it into a clump of wool.

"Cup of broth," Damasen ordered.

Bob ladled some stew juice into a hollow gourd. He handed it to Damasen, who dunked the chewed-up gunk ball and stirred it with his finger.

"Gorgon's blood," He muttered. "Hardly a challenge for  _my_  talents."

He lumbered to the bedside and propped up Percy with one hand. Small Bob the kitten sniffed the broth and hissed. He scratched the sheets with his paws like he wanted to bury it. Well, curative things weren't exactly good for a dead creature, and that broth wasn't the healthiest thing for a cat.

"You're going to feed him  _that?_ " Annabeth asked.

The giant glared at her. "Who is the healer here? You?"

"Annabeth, he knows what he's doing," I assured her. "No one ever said medicine looked like a gourmet meal."

Annabeth shut her mouth nervously, watching carefully as the giant made Percy sip the broth. Damasen handed him with gentleness you didn't see from most giants - or  _any_  giant, really - murmuring words of encouragement. I helped, speaking to Percy and focusing on his health with my hand on his forehead.

With each sip, Percy's color improved. He drained the cup, and his eyes fluttered open. He looked around with a dazed expression, spotted Annabeth, and gave her a drunken grin.

"Feel great," He assured her.

His eyes rolled up in his head before fell back in the bed and began to snore.

"A few hours of sleep," Damasen pronounced. "He'll be good as new."

Annabeth sobbed with relief. "Thank you."

Damasen stared at her mournfully. "Oh, don't thank me. You're still doomed. And I require payment for my services."

Annabeth's mouth went dry. "Uh…what sort of payment?"

"A story." The giant's eyes glittered. "It gets boring in Tartarus. You can tell me your story while we eat, eh?"

* * *

Annabeth looked uneasy about telling a giant about our plans.

Still, she couldn't deny that Damasen was a good host. He'd saved Percy, his drakon-meat stew was excellent (especially compared to firewater), his hut was warm and comfortable, and for the first time since plunging into Tartarus, Annabeth felt like she could relax. Which was ironic, since she was having dinner with a Titan, a giant, and the most dangerous demigod she will ever meet that also had the Primordials of Chaos and Tartarus fighting over her body and soul. Fun!

Annabeth told Damasen about her life and her adventures with Percy. She explained how Percy had met Bob, wiped his memory in the River Lethe, and left him in the care of Hades.

"Percy was trying to do something good," She promised Bob. "He didn't know Hades would be such a creep."

"Hades is  _always_  a creep," I said. "In any case, Hades didn't really know what to  _do_  with Bob. It's not like there was a protocol. Bob's memory was erased so he couldn't have too important of a job - especially in a place as delicate as the Underworld. He considered head of security, but figured he would first have to at least see if Bob's mental state improved. He didn't want the real Bob - Iapetus - to return and wreak havoc. Worse, use his position in the Underworld to sabotage it slowly before anyone knew what was happening."

Bob only got a few visitors in the form of Nico, Veon, and I. It was just easy to talk to a guy that mellow, tell him your feelings about random things that were on your mind, since there was little risk of his gossiping. In the end, he was a sweetheart, and a lot of the time, I felt bad for leaving him. Nico must've felt the same way - Bob wasn't someone of consequence, so Nico opened up to him, in a way. Nico was one of the least outgoing, least friendly demigods that anyone knew. Yet he'd been kind to Bob. By convincing Bob that Percy was a friend, Nico had inadvertently saved their lives. Annabeth wondered if she would  _ever_  figure that guy out. Poor Nico. He deserved a happy ending.

Bob washed his bowl with his squirt bottle and rag.

Damasen made a rolling gesture with his spoon. "Continue your story, Annabeth Chase."

She explained about our quest in the Argo II. When she got to the part about stopping Gaea from waking, she faltered. "She's, um…she's your mom, right?"

Damasen scraped his bowl. His face was covered with old poison burns, gouges, and scar tissue, so it looked like the surface of an asteroid.

"Yes," He said. "And Tartarus is my father." He gestured around the hut. "As you can see, I was a disappointment to my parents. They expected… _more_  from me."

Annabeth was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she was sharing soup with a twenty-foot-tall, lizard-legged man whose parents were Earth and the Pit of Darkness. Olympian gods were hard enough to imagine as parents, but at least they resembled humans. Most of the time. The old primordial gods like Gaea and Tartarus…how could you leave home and ever be independent of your parents when they literally encompassed the entire world?

"So…" Annabeth said. "You don't mind us fighting your mom?"

Damasen snorted like a bull. "Best of luck. At present, it's my father you should worry about. With him opposing you, you have no chance to survive."

Annabeth suddenly didn't feel so hungry. She put her bowl on the floor. Small Bob came over to check it out.

"Opposing us how?" She asked.

" _All_  of this." Damasen cracked a drakon bone and used a splinter as a toothpick. "All that you see is the body of Tartarus, or at least one manifestation of it. He knows you are here. He tries to thwart you progress at every step. My brethren hunt you, he himself hunts  _you_." He eyed me. "It is remarkable you have lived this long, even with the help of Iapetus."

Bob scowled when he heard his name. "The defeated ones hunt us, yes. They will be close behind now."

Damasen spat out his toothpick. "I can obscure your path for a while, long enough for you to rest. I have power in this swamp. But eventually, they will catch you."

"My friends must reach the Doors of Death," Bob said. "That is the way out."

"Impossible," Damasen muttered. "The Doors are too well guarded."

Annabeth sat forward. "But you know where they are?"

"Of course. All of Tartarus flows down to one place: his heart. The Doors of Death are there, but you cannot make it there alive with only Iapetus. And the closer that she comes to his heart, the more power he will have over her."

I looked up. "It's only a matter of time. Running won't change things. I won't be a sitting duck. Nothing's gonna stop him from coming for me, so at least I'll put up a fight."

"What if you come with us," Annabeth said. "Help us."

"HA!"

Annabeth jumped. In the bed, Percy muttered deliriously in his sleep, "Ha, ha, ha."

"Child of Athena, I am not your friend," The giant said. "I helped mortals once, and you see where it got me."

"You helped mortals?" Annabeth knew a lot about Greek legends, but she drew a total blank on the name Damasen. "I-I don't understand."

"Bad story," Bob explained. "Good giants have bad stories."

"Damasen was created to oppose Ares," I told her. "Think what that means."

"Yes," Damasen agreed. "Like all my brethren, I was born to answer a certain god. My foe was Ares. But Ares was the god of war. And so, when I was born-"

"You were his opposite," Annabeth guessed. "You were peaceful."

"Peaceful for a giant, at least." Damasen sighed. "I wandered the fields of Maeonia, in the land you now call Turkey. I tended my sheep and collected my herbs. It was a good life. But I would not fight the gods. My mother and father cursed me for that. The final insult: One day, the Maeonian drakon killed a human shepherd, a friend of mine, so I hunted the creature down and slew it, thrusting a tree straight through its mouth. I used the power of the earth to regrow the tree's roots, planting the drakon firmly in the ground. I made sure it would terrorize mortals no more. That was a deed Gaea could not forgive."

"For a while, Damasen was protected under Chaos," I said, the memories coming to me. "That made Gaea and Tartarus particularly upset, for with Chaos's protection, they could do nothing about Damasen. Chaos named a city after him, Order named a type of steel after him. But then came a day where Chaos lost against Gaea and Tartarus together, the moment Order was gone looking for a new host since their current one was wearing out. Gaea opened the earth, Tartarus pulled them down. Chaos had but one choice to escape."

"I was consumed," Damasen agreed. "Exiled here in the belly of my father Tartarus, where all the useless flotsam collects - all the bits of creation he does not care for." The giant plucked a flower out of his hair and regarded it absently. "They let me live, tending my sheep, collecting my herbs, so I might know the uselessness of the life I choose. Every day - or what passes for day in this lightless place - the Maeonian drakon re-forms and attacks me. Killing it is my endless task."

Annabeth gazed around the hut, trying to imagine how many eons Damasen had been exiled here - slaying the drakon, collecting its bones and hide and meat, knowing it would attack again the next day. She could hardly imagine surviving a  _week_  in Tartarus. Even if Damasen was a giant, exiling your own son here for centuries - that was beyond cruel.

"Break the curse," Annabeth blurted out. "Come with us."

Damasen chuckled sourly. "As simple as that? Don't you think I have  _tried_  to leave this place? It is impossible. No matter which direction I travel, I end up here again. The swamp is the only thing I know - the only destination I can imagine. No, little demigod. My curse has overtaken me. I have no hope left."

"No hope," Bob echoed.

"There  _must_  be a way," Annabeth insisted. She couldn't stand the expression on the giant's face. It reminded her of her own father, the few times he'd confessed to her that he still loved Athena. He had looked so sad and defeated, wishing for something he knew was impossible.

"Bob has a plan to reach the Doors of Death," She prodded. "He said we could hide in some sort of Death Mist."

"Death Mist?" Damasen scowled at Bob. "You would take them to  _Akhlys?_ "

"It is the only way," Bob said.

"You will die. Painfully. In darkness. Akhlys trusts no one and helps no one."

Bob looked like he wanted to argue, but he pressed his lips together and remained silent.

"Is there another way?" Annabeth asked.

"No," Damasen said. "The Death Mist…that is the best plan. Unfortunately, it is a terrible plan."

Annabeth felt like she was hanging over the pit again, unable to pull herself up, unable to maintain her grip - left with no good options.

"But isn't it worth  _trying?_ " She asked. "You could return to the mortal world. You could see the sun again."

Damasen's eyes were like the sockets of the drakon's skull - dark and hollow, devoid of hope. He clicked a broken bone into the fire and rose to his full height - a massive red warrior in sheepskin and drakon leather, with dried flowers and herbs in his hair. It was easy to see how he was the  _anti_ -Ares. Ares was one of the worst gods, blustery and violent. Damasen was the best giant, kind and helpful…and for that, he'd been cursed to eternal torment.

"Get some sleep," The giant said. "I will prepare supplies for your journey. I am sorry, but I cannot do more.

Annabeth wanted to argue, but as soon as he said ' _sleep_ ,' her body betrayed her, despite her resolution never to sleep in Tartarus again. Her belly was full, the fire made a pleasant crackling sound, and the herbs in the air reminded her of the hills around Camp Half-Blood in the summer, when the satyrs and naiads gathered wild plants in the lazy afternoons.

"Maybe a little sleep," She agreed.

Bob scooped her up like a rag doll. She didn't protest. He set her next to Percy on the giant's bed, and she closed her eyes.

"Now it is your turn, daughter of the lost god. Tell me your story, however tragic it may be. Then tell me how you believe your future shall be any brighter."

* * *

Damasen was a good listener. Unlike humans, he was patient and quiet and didn't ask questions. He seemed to absorb every word of mine, no matter how insignificant. I couldn't blame him, though. He didn't get company often, he didn't know what it was like, up in the Overworld. It wasn't like he had access to a news channel.

I requested some drakon bone to do some carving of my own, and it wasn't as though Damasen had any stocking issues, so he accepted. I used Veon's Lance to start carving.

"You are Chaos's new host, eh?" He asked.

I shrugged. "For now."

"You are a healer. I assumed he has a taste."

"I'm a healer, but that means I am much more dangerous than any fighter, Damasen."

He raised an eyebrow and grunted. "I see. You have had Order before. That is a dangerous game you play. I would say that you are doomed to die, but I doubt you will be allowed to."

I nodded. "Welcome to my life."

Damasen looked around the room for some extra dragon leather, which he had stored in a bone basket, and then began to make some human-sized satchels.

"To be the host of Chaos is a daunting task when war is in your blood, child."

"I know. Guess you could say I was following in my mother's footsteps. Actually, I think a giant  _did_  say that. Enchiladas."

"Enceladus. Why take this risk when you had already found a proper host?"

"I couldn't let him go through this. I wanted to do it all myself. I figured if I can change my fate, I can take this on for myself. I've never been one to trust others, and even when I do, it's not easy. Especially people I care for, I wanna do everything for them if it means that I can be a shield to keep the monsters away."

"You enjoy pain, it is built into your genes."

"When you put it that way, I sound like a masochist. Blech."

"The closer you come to death, the more power you build. That power has infected your human body and soul, it has made you dependent on it, no different than any of your human drugs. But it has also has sustained you, it heals you in an endless loop of misery. I do not envy you and the weight that you hold. You are foolish yet too wise for your own good. I have no clue what you will become, whether you will succeed or fail, or even if either is better or worse than the other."

"Join the club."

"I would wish you luck, if I believed it would do you any good."

"It's the thought that counts. In any case, right now, the plan lies with Akhlys."

He scoffed. "It is a foolish endeavor, especially for those humans. You would be a questionable case. The two of them have no hope."

"I have seen many things, Damasen, and these two are very lucky at the very least. What will they accomplish? Surviving this place was a myriad of every miracle the universe has to give. But they've done it. Fighting Akhlys is pointless, but tricking her is what humans do best. Look what Annabeth did to you, made you heal Percy with a little goading. It's dangerous, like a game of Russian roulette where you could get shot at any moment, but at the same time, it's effective, there's no denying that."

He grunted. "I still believe they are doomed."

"I never said they weren't. Even if they survive this, they're going to be haunted forever. If they make it to the Doors of Death, who's to say they'll even be able to accomplish their goal? If they free the doors, will they use them to return to the world of the living? Will they be able to even use them? The Doors are special, require many people to operate on both sides. If the guys upstairs aren't there at the right time - and what are the odds of that? - then they're doomed for sure."

"Have you told them of such things?"

"No. Why worry them? A million things have to go right, but I've seen crazier. Besides, I'll be there to either make things better or worse. As the humans say, 'What could  _possibly_  go wrong?' right?"

He snorted, but I sensed that he almost laughed. "Where is Iapetus? The humans should be waking soon."

"Bob. He likes Bob better."

Damasen finished the small satchels. "I will begin to pack. Find Bob and finish your work soon."

* * *

I carved out the finishing touches on my work.

"You haven't told her," Damasen said.

"No," Bob admitted. "She is already scared."

The giant grumbled. "She  _should_  be. And if you cannot guide them past Night?"

The evil name felt heavy in the air.

"I have to," Bob said.

"Why?" Damasen wondered. "What have the demigods given you? They have erased your old self, everything you were."

"It was my old self that did so, by opposing them," He corrected. "They erased the old self that had been foolish enough to fight them, the one who fell into Lethe because he was destined for nothing more."

Damasen sighed. "Titans and giants…we are meant to be the foes of the gods and their children. Are we not?"

"Then why did you heal the boy?"

Damasen exhaled. "I have been wondering that myself. Perhaps because the girl goaded me, or perhaps…I find these two demigods intriguing. They are resilient to have made it so far. That is admirable. Still, how can we help any further? It is not our fate."

"Perhaps," Bob said uncomfortably. "But…do you like our fate?"

"What a question. Does anyone like his fate?"

"I liked being Bob," Bob murmured. "Before I started to remember…"

"Huh," Damasen hummed back absentmindedly, filling the satchels with supplies.

"Damasen?" The Titan asked. "Do you remember the sun?"

I stopped my carving.

Damasen froze. He exhaled through his nostrils. "Yes. It was yellow. When it touched the horizon, it turned the sky beautiful colors."

"I miss the sun," Bob said. "The stars, too. I would like to say hello to the stars again."

"Stars…" Damasen said the word like he had forgotten its meaning. "Yes. They made silver patterns in the night sky." Damasen dropped a bone box of items as if it cleared his mind, reset the mood of the home and switched off his reminiscing. He returned to the cold, heartless giant he was pretending to be. "Bah. This is useless talk. We cannot-"

In the distance, the Maeonian drakon roared.

Percy and Annabeth woke in the next room.

"Are you finished?" Damasen demanded of me.

I nodded. I had carved a violin of drakon bone, and once I got the chance, I planned to enchant it to transform into a full sized guitar and back at will. The bow was extremely interesting, as it functioned as the bow for the violin, but it also could be used as a kind of fencing baton. It was quick and elegant. Not to mention that I could also play it as a flute. Once I got the power to do so, I would be able to expand it into armor for my bow - as in the one that shoots arrows.

"Then you must go."

He stalked into the next room.

I pulled out an enchanted music player, leaving it on a table for Damasen. Kaze had made it for me a while ago, but Damasen needed it more than I did. A little music in this world might do him good. I hesitated a moment, concentrating and sending the power of Curse to linger here.

"Teach him to defy his fate," I ordered. "He needs it more than anyone."

She nodded. " _Yes ma'am!_ "

I hurried to the other room with Annabeth and Percy on Damasen's bed.

"There is no time, little mortals," Damasen said to Percy and Annabeth. "The drakon is returning. I fear its roar will draw the others - my brethren, hunting you. They will be here within minutes."

Annabeth tensed, adrenaline coursing through her system at the warning. "What will you tell them when they get here?"

Damasen's mouth twitched. "What is there to tell? Nothing of significance, as long as you are gone." He tossed them the two drakon-leather satchels he'd prepared. "Clothes, food, drink."

Bob was wearing a similar but larger pack. He leaned on his broom, gazing at Annabeth as if still pondering Damasen's words: ' _What have the demigods given you? We are meant to be the foes of the gods and their children._ '

Annabeth was struck by a thought so sharp and clear, it was like a blade from Athena herself. "The Prophecy of Seven."

Percy had already climbed out of the bed and was shouldering his pack. He frowned at her. "What about it?"

Annabeth grabbed Damasen's hand, startling the giant. His brow furrowed. His skin was as rough as sandstone.

"You  _have_  to come with us," She pleaded. "The prophecy says ' _foes bear arms to the Doors of Death._ ' I thought it meant Romans and Greeks, but that's not it. The line means  _us_  - demigods, a Titan, a giant. We  _need_  you to close the doors!"

The drakon roared outside, closer this time. Damasen gently pulled his hand away. "No, child. My curse is here. I cannot escape it."

"Yes, yes you can," Annabeth insisted. "Don't fight the drakon. Figure out a way to break the cycle! Find  _another_  fate."

Damasen shook his head. "Even if I could, I cannot leave this swamp. It is the only destination I can picture."

Annabeth's mind raced. "There  _is_  another destination. Look at me! Remember my face. When you're ready, come find me. We'll take you to the mortal world with us. You can see the sunlight and the stars."

The ground shook. The drakon was close now, stomping through the marsh, blasting trees and moss with its poison spray. Farther away, I could hear the voice of the giant Polybotes, urging his followers forward.

"THE SEA GOD'S SON! HE IS CLOSE!"

"Annabeth," Percy said urgently. "That's our cue to leave."

Damasen took something from his belt. In his massive hand, the white shard looked like another toothpick, but when he offered it to Annabeth, she realized it was a sword - a blade of dragon bone, honed to a deadly edge, with a simple grip of leather.

"One last gift for the child of Athena," Rumbled the giant. "I cannot have you walking to your death unarmed. Now, go! Before it is too late."

Annabeth wanted to sob. She took the sword, but she couldn't even make herself say thank you. She knew the giant was meant to fight at our side. That was the answer, but Damasen turned away.

"We must leave," Bob urged as his kitten climbed onto his shoulder.

"He's right, Annabeth," Percy said.

"It's okay, Annabeth," I said. "Damasen will make his choice."

We ran for the entrance. I paused at the door.

"Good luck, Damasen. May Chaos bless you once more."

Annabeth didn't look back as she followed Percy and Bob into the swamp, but she heard Damasen behind us, shouting his battle cry at the advancing drakon, his voice cracking with despair as he faced his old enemy yet again.


	27. An Icy Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The things you can get done when you bring your computer to school to work on during your off hours.
> 
> I made this very long unintentionally. Like, I had the things planned to be in this chapter all mapped out, but it turned out being a little longer than I expected. Plus, I'd already named the chapter before I started, so I just had to get to the end before I cut it off to the next chapter.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> :)

First Person: Emily

"A boy?" I repeated.

Kaze nodded. "I could not save him."

"What's his name? What'd he look like?"

Kaze shook his head. "It was blurred. He knew me though. Cupid said it was love that would destroy me."

I took his hand. He was scared of a future that was far off, waiting in anticipation. Cupid had said that it would be someone he loved, and being told that falling in love with someone meant they were going to die or at least suffer in some way wasn't comforting. People that Kaze loved had been taken away from him again and again. First, it was his father leaving, then his mother getting killed, then his sister choosing the gods over him, then his savior Gaea turning out to be evil, and now he learned that in the future, the person he was gonna fall in love with was gonna be hurt by being with him.

"Did you see who it was? If they died or were just hurt?"

He shook his head. It didn't matter either way. Neither was exactly something to look forward to.

I sent him a calming wave. Rather than switching off his emotions completely, I'd been trying to keep my powers in control. It was starting to get scary - I could feel people's emotions from across the room and could take control of them at any moment. Like flipping an invisible switch, I could do anything I wanted, make them feel anything that I wanted so long as I could imagine the feeling myself. Or I could just turn them off completely. Same with my enemies. It all started with that first encounter with the Primordials when I switched them.

The only exceptions were Lu, Veon, and now Audrey. They were all…blurry. Where everyone else's emotions were a colorful rainbow of feelings, things that I could just touch and change at will, theirs were gray, covered by a bubble that made them impossible to reach. Everyone else was becoming delicate while they were invincible. This impossible middle ground was getting hard to deal with. I had to show a lot of restraint when it came to affecting my friends, else I could turn them all into apathetic zombies when I'm not paying enough attention.

"You and your sister have always fought the odds together, right? We're gonna beat the earth itself here and all of her children that wanna kill us. Compared to whatever's in this future of yours, I'm sure that you can beat it off. If not, your sister's dating a son of the Underworld. I'm sure that he can arrange something."

Kaze cracked a smile. "Maybe."

"Good. Now, I need your help."

He sat forward eagerly. "What?"

"I need a present for Veon's birthday. Got any ideas?"

He blinked. "It his birthday?!"

* * *

"Happy birthday," Audrey said, shoving a stuffed orca at Veon. "I got it at Porky's aquarium. It had the most black. I had the perfect present back home, but this'll have to do for now."

"Wait, it's your birthday?" Frank demanded.

"Why is everyone so surprised about this?" Veon whined. "Lu's birthday is on the 15th by the way."

"Have birthday good!" Kaze said, holding out a cupcake from the mess hall with a candle on it.

"Kaze and I made you cupcakes," Emily said. "But Kaze tried to bake them with an invention of his and most of them were destroyed. So we just got one from the magic plates in the mess hall."

Veon laughed. "Well, it's the thought that counts."

"I made you a diadem, oh great Soul King," Hazel said, handing over a black circlet made of gems. The main part was shaped to mimic bones, two skeleton hands leading up to ruby heart at the front to both represent the soul as well as July. "Since I know that you're immune to the gem curse thing. It's kinda dumb, but-"

"No, it's great, Hazel. It's awesome! I love the design."

"Nico helped me with it."

Nico shrugged in the corner of the room.

"Let's just say that it's from Frank too."

"If I'd have known, man, I would've come up with something great!" Frank protested.

"Jason and I made you this," Piper said.

She handed over a mini Athena Parthenos statue with a ribbon on it. It was designed with great accuracy - I mean considering it was currently below deck, they did have a good model to go off of.

"Aw, look at little Nike!"

"I know!" Piper exclaimed. "Isn't it cute?"

"Nike would probably kill us if she heard that."

"Let's just hope she's too mixed up with that whole split personality thing to care," Jason said.

"How'd you make that?" Audrey asked.

He shrugged. "Teamwork, trial, and error. Piper's pretty good at arts and crafts and I've gotten bored before. Recreational stuff."

Leo dug through his tool belt pockets. "Uh…have some breath mints."

Jason sighed and shook his head with a smile.

"How about we say the statue's from Leo too?" Piper suggested.

"I'll get ya something great," Leo insisted. "Just give me a little time."

"Hey, it's fine," Veon assured us. "This is way more than I expected. In all honesty, I'd…kinda forgotten it was my birthday."

"Well, next year, when we're not facing the impending end of the world, we can throw you a proper party to embarrass you even further," Audrey promised.

"Err…thanks?"

"Well, if that's all, I gotta get back to the helm to, you know, choose our course," Leo announced.

"Everyone to their shifts," Jason ordered. "Happy birthday, Veon."

"Thanks, everyone. And yes, everyone start defending the ship, please. That is recommended for our continued existence."

* * *

Kaze was staring off the edge of the ship, sulking in his mind.

Gray clouds were beginning to move in, swallowing the sky. The waves were beginning to turn choppy, and it was only a matter of time before the rain would come down. It was getting pretty cold, so cold that I could see my breath. If rain came down, it would be hail, or it would freeze on the ship as ice. I wasn't an expert on the Mediterranean, but that didn't seem normal - especially in July.

"It's the scepter," Nico murmured, hefting the ancient staff. "It has to be."

It may make sense. The black orb on the scepter seemed to leach the color right out of the air, the golden eagle at its base glinting coldly. The scepter could supposedly control the dead, and it definitely gave off bad vibes. Coach Hedge had taken one look at the thing, turned pale, and announced that he was going to his room to console himself with Chuck Norris videos - although, in reality, he was making Iris messages back home to his girlfriend Mellie. He still insisted that I didn't tell anyone about that issue, but I was growing concerned for him. Still, I respected his wishes.

Maybe the scepter could cause freak storms, but I highly doubted it. Something else had to be afoot.

But so far the storm wasn't too had. It had only been a day since we'd gotten the scepter, maybe less since it was only the morning.

"Kaze?" I asked.

He waved to acknowledge me but continued to stare off to the shore far away.

I sighed. His emotions were screaming at me, shouting like 'HEY, YOU WANNA KNOW HOW THIS GUY'S FEELING?! I BET YOU DO!' It was becoming hard to stay within nothing but my own mind. I didn't want to pry, but also being in someone else's mind could become unnerving after a while. You started to forget how you yourself felt, what it was like to be you and no one else. My feelings, my opinions, it was like none of them were really mine anymore. I was merging with everyone that I came too close to, and shutting those floodgates was about as easy as shutting floodgates sounded.

Kaze was missing the mainland, missing the days when it was just him and his sister, surviving together.

"You wanna go out there?" I asked. "Just go on a run. We can make it back to the ship before they even miss us."

Kaze perked up, looking to me and then to the land. "For a little."

I nodded. Kaze gave me a piggyback ride, saying I needed to keep my head down so that I didn't get whiplash, and then we sped off.

We reached the mainland only a few moments later, and Kaze dropped me so that we could walk around together. I wondered if we were still in Croatian territory. Croatia was similar to Alaska in that it had a kind of tail shape, so the coast of Croatia went on for a while.

"So, where we wanna go?" I asked.

He looked around, searching for places that he'd been before. Kaze took me around absentmindedly. He didn't have a goal, but the walking certainly helped clear his mind.

"Demigod," I announced.

I sensed a large bundle of fear, larger than most of the regular humans, and realized it was a demigod, a maybe 13-year-old kid running from a monster.

"Come on! Let's go help him!"

Kaze ran after me, calling, "Wait, 'He' who?!"

I locked onto the demigod and followed him, running through the streets of the city we were in. Eventually, I finally saw him when I rounded a corner, but the thing that he was running from wasn't a monster - it was a group of humans. I sensed they were completely mortal, no disguised monsters, but they were hiding from mortals in the Mist and using Celestial bronze weapons.

"Kaze!"

He was already on it. He sped around so fast that it was a blink and you miss it situation. All of the men and women were disarmed, stripped of every weapon they had. Kaze probably put all of the equipment in his infinite pockets since he wasn't carrying anything when he came back to normal speed, but that was only after he punched every single one of the pursuers hard enough to send them flying back in the opposite direction they had been moving.

He caught the demigod kid and then ran back my way, telling me to jump on. I grabbed him and held on tight as he sped us away for a solid minute - meaning we were going far.

When he stopped, we were in a forest near the sea.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Zavalatica," Kaze answered shortly.

Kaze let me down and then set the boy down, having fallen unconscious from the ride, most likely. He was nearly as tall as Kaze, but he was pretty malnourished. His body was covered in scars and a bit of blood from his attackers, his clothes old and ripped like he'd worn them for ages with no other options. There was evidence of attempts at repairing and washing his clothes, but nothing could return them to normal. His hair was brown, grown out to cover his eyes and very disheveled. It looked to have been cut with a pair of safety scissors considering the choppy job - maybe not even with scissors, just the nearest sharp object.

I put my hands on his and let my fire creep through him, careful to make sure the flames were gentle. His cuts sealed themselves with a small glow of orange and I worked to fix his starvation and dehydration, reporting the damage to Kaze.

Kaze lifted his head, pulling down his collar and brushing his hair aside. On the back of his neck was a barcode, along with some writing. It might've seemed like English at first, but there was a word with a 'u' that had two little dots over it, not a word that I knew.

"German," Kaze said.

He pulled out a pair of glasses from his pocket and the screen flickered. Smart glasses. Cool.

"Special Case, Ward K, Number 9, ZRL," Kaze recited. "No last name."

"What's that tattoo?" I asked.

He took his glasses off grimly. "A Ward tattoo. He's a Ward victim."

"What's a Ward?"

Kaze pulled up the back of his hair to show me his neck where he had a similar tattoo. "Mortals found out about demigods. They took us in, they are everywhere, and we are held prisoner. What they do to us…"

"So those people that were chasing him…?"

"Ward people. Ward K…that is Germany."

"There's one for every country?"

He nodded. "They began with letters, depending on country and language of the country. Then, they went with letters and numbers. That way, they have an infinite number of names and universal language. Base 10."

"So…he came all the way here from Germany?"

"Look at clothes. He ran. He survived, barely."

"Well, he's healthy now. As far as I can see."

"Thank you."

"Does his tattoo say his name?"

"No surname. First name consonants are ZRL. They remove vowels. I am KZ."

"So no real clues as to his name. What do we do when he wakes up?"

"Hope he no scared. He will be untrusting. I do not like the thought of influencing his thoughts, but…"

I nodded. "It's never morally right, but we need to show him that we're trustworthy. Calming him down at the very least is what I'll do. Only if he panics will I do anything more, and nothing drastic."

* * *

Okay, so this is how this went.

From what I can remember, we waited until the boy woke up before things went awry. He had woken a lot sooner than we had expected but had played unconscious in order to get a hold of his surroundings. He was pretty good at it, considering that he kept his breathing and emotions themselves so weak that even I, with my enhanced state, couldn't discern when he began thinking at a higher level.

He had suddenly shot up with a stick in his hand, jamming it into my eye with all his strength. He had surprisingly good aim for a kid that had, up until his point, had his eyes closed. He had taken in his surroundings with every other sense available to him, all without alerting me that he was awake. His thoughts had remained completely passive, almost not there at all.

Now, getting poked in the eye when you were invincible was more mental than anything else. It was scary as hell, but luckily no pain came. The kid had already started running, but Kaze was faster. He tackled the kid, switching his translation gem so that he spoke German and started trying to talk the kid down.

All I felt from him was panic. He wasn't listening to Kaze, he just knew that he needed to get away. During his days on the run, he had learned never to trust anyone but himself. If someone was offering to help, they were lying. If someone seemed innocent, they were not. The only person he could trust was himself, and it wasn't fun, but it was the only way to survive.

Kaze had to tie him up to finally get him to listen, and it was Kaze showing him his tattoo that got him interested. Kaze shared a lot of stories, and though I couldn't understand him, I knew that he was telling tales that meant a lot to him, things that involved heartbreak and fear. Though the boy was skeptical, I could sense that he was being broken slowly but surely. He wanted to believe Kaze, but he had been burned before.

"Kaze, we should let him go," I finally said.

Kaze looked up in a panic, but he didn't say anything in protest. I already understood. This was another person that was like him, this was a person that he needed to save, that he felt responsible for. But Kaze knew better than anyone that because of their similarities, he understood that gaining this boy's trust wouldn't be a quick process and we didn't have the time to be working with him and his psyche without cheating - and that wasn't exactly going to be high in the trust scale.

Kaze stood and released his bonds, zipping over to me and nodding for us to go.

"Azrael."

We both looked over to the boy. He said something in German to Kaze, looking very embarrassed.

"He says that's his name," Kaze explained.

Kaze gave a response and smiled at Azrael. Azrael looked surprised at Kaze's cheerful tone and something positive that he said. The three of us sat down while the two boys talked, and I waved with a smile when Kaze introduced me. I didn't understand their conversation, and honestly, I didn't want to pry. While I could probably access either or both of their minds to understand German, I let them enjoy talking to each other. They were both happy, Kaze especially, but Azrael seemed to be warming up to him.

Kaze asked a question and Azrael's smile faded. Just based on his emotions, it was a question that he had wondered himself but never found an answer to, and it had caused him misery more often than not.

"What?" I asked.

"His parent," Kaze explained simply. "He doesn't know who they are. He doesn't even know if he has a mortal parent. He is a demigod, they have told him, but they do not know of who."

"They?"

"The Ward staff."

Azrael said something and Kaze raised an eyebrow.

"His power is death, he says. He sees people's souls and he can tear them out. It is scary."

Kaze said some encouraging things to Azrael, and I sensed that though he didn't believe Kaze's optimistic words, he was moved that someone was trying. Kaze began to explain how he had escaped, how he knew how to survive, and how he had found friends that would protect both of them.

"Can we bring him to Argo II?" Kaze begged. "Please?"

I considered bringing someone as delicate as Azrael to the Argo II where we were dealing with more than enough drama. There was whatever was happening to Lu and Ve, there was whatever happened to Audrey, we were still working past out Annabeth and Percy trauma, and we had a myriad of things attacking us on our quest to do the impossible. Even if Kaze could somehow take Azrael back to the camps, they were at war at the moment. Compared to that, keeping Azrael in the ship would be tame. But we didn't want to make him feel confined, and with the ship being the only safe place, there wouldn't be many opportunities to get him out into the world without the threat of attack.

But I didn't want to leave him behind. We couldn't leave him behind. Whether or not that was Kaze influencing me or not, I myself knew that I didn't want to leave Azrael.

"We can bring him, but we'll need to keep him informed about what we're up against-"

There was a growling in the bushes, a crunching of leaves, and the sound of a large group approaching. Azrael started shouting things in a panic and Kaze drew his shuriken, expanding all four blades.

"We have been found!"

"That fast?!" I shouted.

Out of the trees, something dropped down, but rather than some military S.W.A.T. team dressed in all black, it was instead a man a military-style outfit, thick pants, and T-shirt, combat boots, yes, but what stuck out was his colorfully red trench coat that shimmered like a lava lamp. He had deep blue eyes, accentuated by the fact that his sclera were pure black. He had golden blonde hair that resembled the Apollo kids back at Camp Half-Blood, but his porcelain-like skin was filled with cracks. In his hand was a longbow that matched his coat, along with a quiver of arrows at each hip

"What the-?"

"Emily, take Azrael and run!" Kaze demanded.

"What about you?!"

"I will hold him off!"

The man attacked with deadly speed at Kaze, and Kaze barely managed to meet his bow, but instead of clashing, Kaze swept past him to skid to a stop behind him. The man turned to Kaze while he shouted at me again.

"Run!"

I took Azrael by the wrist, feeling his confusion and fear. Was this a new warrior sent to track him down after his escape? Was this the warrior sent after Kaze? Azrael felt an aura from this thing that was disastrous, disgusting and unholy, and he nearly froze from the fear. I tried to send the proper waves of panic through him, not the kind of fear that made you freeze, but the kind that told you to run no matter what tried to stop you.

We sprinted through the trees blindly, unsure of our direction, but Azrael seemed to know what he was doing. A couple of times I started to veer too far to the left or right, and if left unchecked, I might've led us in a big circle, but Azrael's thoughts and connection to me helped me straighten myself out - Azrael knew how to keep straight even when lost just by taking in his surroundings once, no matter how unfamiliar.

Azrael suddenly stopped when he saw a group of what I had expected from this government organization - guys in complete black, body armor, guns, and in formation. What I didn't expect were the hellhounds. There was an army of them at the S.W.A.T. team guys' feet, and they were trained on us. They were nothing like Mrs. O'Leary, they were bloodthirsty.

"Calm down, stop!" I shouted. "You will not harm us! I mean it!"

I threw my influence out in a wave. I hadn't realized how strong that I had gotten since I had been restraining my growing power, but when I released my influence, there was an actual shockwave, like an explosion, and it hit the mortals hard. Then doubled over, suddenly apologizing profusely, and the hellhounds whimpered and took a few steps back.

I thought it had worked, and even Azrael seemed surprised, but then the men reached for their helmets and screens fell down to make them look like they were wearing motorcycle helmets. They stood with vigor once more, cocking their weapons. One pressed a button and collars on the hellhounds shocked them back into action.

"Stand down, now!"

Another shockwave went out, but not as strong as before since I had already released my initial built up blast, but it was still powerful enough to make a ripple in the air. I expected them to at least flinch, but they only raised their weapons to fire. Azrael and I scattered, jumping behind trees for cover. The hellhounds advanced, launching forward with a ravenous look in their eyes. I jumped out from behind my tree, shouting "Miss!" with all the strength that I could. I'm not sure if it made a difference, but I made it to Azrael somehow.

"Run," I demanded.

He didn't have to understand my language to understand the emotion that I was forcing through him.

We sprinted as fast as we could, weaving through the trees as we tried to avoid getting shot. I kept my eye on Azrael, which wasn't hard since he was faster than he looked and was always in front of me. Therefore I saw when he got shot in the leg and collapsed.

I ran over to him, grabbing him by the waist and slinging one of his arms over my shoulder and started dragging his weight. He shouted at me, confused at my benevolence, but I kept going, adrenaline flowing through me to keep us at a good pace.

"Run faster! Keep Azrael safe! Faster!"

I was shouting at myself to keep myself going, and surprisingly, it worked. My limbs were filled with energy that pushed me forward, and I convinced myself to push harder and faster. I barely noticed when I was shot in the abdomen. I felt the pain, but I kept shouting at myself. If I couldn't convince them to stop, I had to convince myself to keep going. I realized that what they had shot me with wasn't a bullet, it was a tranquilizer, and a strong one at that. I felt my muscles wanting to give way, but I shouted at them to stay awake and keep going, and they obeyed.

I managed at least ten minutes before I collapsed with Azrael beside me. I wanted to get up and keep us moving, but we had no goal, no safe haven that we could make it to.

"Kaze!" I shouted. "Kaze!"

Azrael was grabbed. I tried to keep my grip on him with everything I had. But his hand slipped.

"No!"

Azrael struggled, but he was already tired from having a tranquilizer to the leg. Since mine was in the stomach, I was much more tired than he was, but time had begun to let the drug sink into his system despite my urging to keep him fighting. Then, there was the crash.

An entire tree trunk came down on the man that had been pulling at Azrael. I scooted closer to Azrael and pulled him free, and it looked like his feet hadn't been crushed, unlike the man. I finally saw what had knocked down the tree - or rather, purposefully smashed it down with more force than any human could've mustered. It was a woman, what I initially, and hopefully, thought was a Hunter of Artemis. She was Asian, her hair pulled into a fishtail braid at her shoulder, decked out in jeans, camo shoes with a wedge, a black T-shirt, fingerless gloves, and a bag at either hip hanging from her belt. Her eyes were grass green and she wore an olive green trench coat just like that man from before. And just like him, her sclera were pure midnight black and her porcelain-like skin was cracking like a creepy doll from a horror movie.

"What the heck are you?" I muttered.

She saw me, but before she could do anything, she was bombarded by a rain of shots from the government men. She narrowed her eyes, taking on a fighting stance. She zipped over, fast as Kaze, kicking and punching the men out. She tossed a grenade, releasing a smoke that instantly had the men screaming, and when the hellhounds jumped on her, dog-piling (no pun intended) to try and tear her to pieces, she easily fought back, tossing them off without a scratch on her and tearing them to pieces with her bare hands.

She looked back to us, and Azrael flinched. These men had been hunting him for ages, I sensed, and this woman had taken them down without a second thought, unaffected by the weapons they made that were specifically tailored to counter the power of the gods. Wait, these men had weapons that resisted the power of the gods? That explained how their equipment resisted my charmspeak.

"Tsuchi!"

It was Kaze. He ran in, between the strange woman and us. Tsuchi…where had I heard that before? Wait, was this the…thing that Gaea had made back in the hypogeum in Rome? The others had told me about them, how dangerous they were, how they barely survived the encounter. And that they were based on Kaze and Lu's parents - Kaze's mother and Lu's father.

Kaze shouted some things at Tsuchi - his mother, defiled beyond imagination. I sensed no soul within that shell, only dark energy. It was disgusting to be able to sense, and Azrael seemed just as disturbed. Kaze held his hand out defensively and talked to her, and to our surprise, she actually spoke back, her voice almost soothing and normal. She spoke what I assumed was Japanese, and Kaze almost seemed to be bargaining with her.

"Kaze?"

There was shouting in all different languages and the cocking of guns. We were suddenly surrounded again by the mortals with the demigod-proof weapons.

"No…"

There were so many of them, and I was still struggling to stay awake from the tranquilizer. I was mental encouraging myself to stay conscious, as well as digging the tranquilizer into my torso to use the pain as an energizer. Kaze shouted something to Tsuchi, nodding at the troops surrounding us. He was bargaining with her, that was a guarantee if there was ever any doubt.

"Kaze…" I muttered. "You…you can't-"

As if things could get worse, the man from before with the red lava lamp trench coat zoomed into the fray, instantly taking out two of the troops that had surrounded us, breaking the ring violently. He looked up to Tsuchi and said something, while she responded curtly. Kaze said something, and the two of them nodded.

It was a blur of motion. The two undead warriors zipped around, attacking the army of troops. There were arrows shot from the man's bow while he also simply whacked them with the bow itself hard enough to destroy any of their protective gear and crack their skulls. There were explosions of energy from the arrows, as well as grenades from Tsuchi. She had regular explosive ones as well as gas grenades, and it was a flurry of action from them both, using techniques that I couldn't even discern what was happening.

They were saving us. But at what cost? What had Kaze offered them?

It was over in a few seconds, and all of the men seemed to collapse at the same time from the speed of the assault. The two warriors sheathed their weapons and stood at attention. Tsuchi said something and Kaze nodded.

"Kaze, what did you do?" I demanded.

He radiated sadness, but a drive that I understood easily. He was doing this to save us. There was no way we'd be able to defeat those troops, no way we'd be able to do so and escape these…these monsters. Kaze knew what it was like to be helpless, he knew what it was like to be running from these people who could counter his powers. The only way that he had survived was through his sister. Now it was his turn to be the protector rather than the protected.

Kaze kneeled next to me and Azrael. "Hold on."

The two warriors zoomed forward, Tsuchi grabbing me and the man grabbing Azrael. It was like being punched in the chest, but we were suddenly dropped a moment later, and I felt the wood of a deck underneath me. Kaze was there, standing solemnly with the two warriors at his side. The Argo II, I realized. We were on the Argo II.

"I am sorry."

"Kaze-"

"Take care of Azrael. Protect him."

Azrael was dazed and confused, saying something with a questioning tone. Kaze kneeled in front of him, saying some encouraging words that had Azrael even more confused.

Kaze kissed him on the forehead, before standing and joining the two undead warriors.

"Kaze?" I asked. "Kaze, what are you-?"

"Take care of him. And tell Onesan I am sorry."

The three of them sped away, so fast that I didn't have time to process which direction they had run before they were gone.

I tried to stand, but my muscles gave out, the tranquilizer finally taking its toll, and everything went black.

* * *

First Person: Kaze

"Why have you come?" I demanded.

"We traced your escape from the ship," Tsuchi explained, her voice normal but flat, almost like a robot's. "You have but one companion, and so we assumed you were attempting to escape with a hostage in order to contact us. That is one of the chosen ones that Mother desires."

Did that mean that she was always tracking us? Tracking the ship? Tracking the others? The only reason she hadn't attacked was that Gaea was waiting for me to make my answer to her.

Emily was unconsciously shielding Azrael with her body, but we were surrounded. Azrael had told me these people could resist our demigod powers. I had no doubt about it at this point. Azrael had lost hope, Emily was barely keeping them awake by sheer willpower. And now Tsuchi and Kandai had arrived, thinking that I had made up my mind about the choice Tsuchi had offered.

In all honesty, I had nearly forgotten about it. I didn't want to think about it, mostly because it was almost too tempting. I wanted it, this…this pure power that I was seeing from them, but I knew it came at a risk. What if I lost my mind? What if I ended up hurting the people that I cared for most in trying to save them? What if Gaea took the choice away from me?

But I could fight the gods themselves. I could finally have the strength to get what I wanted. Tsuchi had done it. Surely she had. Or maybe she was just acting. Maybe she was just under Gaea's control but a very good actor. But I wanted to believe this would work.

"I will go with you, but I need a favor."

"What?" she asked curiously.

"These men-"

"Threat level, moderate," She said robotically. "Left unchecked, they shall pose a danger to Mother's plans."

"They pose a danger to us. Can you take them out?"

"With ease."

Kandai came bursting in, knocking down a couple of the men and breaking the ring of troops. He met eyes with Tsuchi. "Report?"

"He has agreed. But we must first eliminate these enemies."

"Take them out and help me return my friends to the ship. Then, I'll go with you."

The two of them nodded in sync and it was a tornado of chaos, a whirlwind of destruction. The troops were decimated despite their protection, while Tsuchi and Kandai were barely strained, if at all.

"We shall take these two to your ship with your companions," Tsuchi recounted.

I nodded. Emily knew. She read me like an open book, she was demanding what I had done, but I simply kneeled in front of her and told her, "Hold on."

The three of us zipped them over to the ship and the two of them dropped Emily and Azrael. Emily looked up to me, fear and confusion in her eyes.

"I am sorry," I said.

"Kaze-"

"Take care of Azrael. Protect him."

"Why…?" Azrael muttered. "Why would you…for me?"

I knelt in front of him, mustering a smile as I switched to German. "Because you deserve this. I was once you, but I changed. I was given a life and you will have one now. These people will protect you."

Azrael was confused, he was scared, and I could sense that he wanted to ask more, but we were out of time. I kissed him on the forehead, a spur of the moment thing, but I wanted him to know that it was okay. He would be protected by these people, he'd learn to live a normal life, and after this war was over, I'd take him to Camp Half-Blood. Or maybe I'd just run away, with him and Onesan and Veon-san and all of these people I cared for. We'd just run away.

Maybe we'd one day save the others. No, we  _would_  save the others. I would use the power that Gaea gave me to not only rebel against her, but I would also use the power to fight back against the Wards. I had finally found something that could stand up to them, these undead forms that were horrific and disgusting and more powerful than anything we'd ever seen. I would become one for my family's sake, I would fight for kids like this who have lived their lives in fear. I would fix this broken world that's hurt me and so many others. I was tired of being helpless, I was tired of having to watch those I love give in to despair. Seeing what had happened to my mom, what had happened to my sister, and what would happen to the one I loved in the future…it was almost too much.

I needed to fix it if no one else would.

"Kaze?" Emily asked. "Kaze, what are you-?"

"Take care of him. And tell Onesan I am sorry."

She would be protesting right now. She would tell me it was too dangerous, she would volunteer to take my place. But she wasn't here. It was my turn to be the one taking the responsibility, the one to finally do something useful with my life. I had made the wrong decision before, but this was the right one. It had to be. And if I didn't come back from this, ignoring what she would've wanted, to not do this, hopefully, Emily would send the message.

I nodded to the two warriors for them to lead me away, and I sped after them, across the water, across the land. I disappeared before anyone could see me cry.

* * *

First Person: Emily

"He's not a son of Hades, that's for sure," Veon said. "Not Thanatos either. Nothing that I know of. The ability to see souls and tear them out…?"

"That's what Kaze said," I nodded. "He's afraid of the power, afraid of himself. That much I can sense."

Though Veon had his universal power of communication, Azrael refused to speak, staring at the floor seemingly still in shock at what had happened. He was confused about Kaze on so many levels, why he'd sacrifice himself like that. Azrael had never known kindness like that, he was having trouble understanding it. This was a world where friendship wasn't an option, where survival meant that you couldn't have things or people that you loved. What a sad story. And there were more kids like this? Kids in Wards, subjugated by mortals with the power to nullify and counter demigod powers. How terrifying.

Azrael rubbed the back of his neck slowly. Kaze had been just like him, and yet somehow he had turned out selfless, willing to sacrifice himself for Azrael. How was that even possible?

"The poor thing has gone through so much, more than he's willing to speak of," I said.

"I'll take responsibility for him," Veon announced. "I'll get him a translation bead, but I doubt he'll want to say too much to all of these strangers. Right now, you're the closest to being someone he trusts. I don't want to be manipulative, but-"

"I know, Ve. Times are tough and we need to get along, even if it takes a little pushing. He can't stop thinking about Kaze right now, he's so confused by his sacrifice."

"Hey…do you think that Azrael is…you know…the one that Kaze had seen with Cupid?"

I shrugged. "Kaze didn't see his face, didn't know his name. I think he knew his voice, he said that the boy had known who he was, was shouting his name, but Kaze couldn't save him. If that really is Azrael, whatever happens, must happen in the future. It means that Kaze is going to come back to us, it has to, right? H-He still has to fall in love with Azrael before…"

Veon wrapped me in a tight hug. "He's gonna be fine. Kaze's tough."

I sniffled into Veon's shoulder. "I feel so bad for…for wanting Kaze to come back just to…just to see Azrael…"

"Did Kaze confirm that he saw Azrael die?"

I shook my head.

"Then there's still hope. Chin up. We've beaten the odds before, it's in our job description. Besides, prophecies and foretold futures never show the whole picture. Keep your spirits up. We're relying on you to keep us smiling when the future seems too daunting."

I nodded, taking off my glasses to properly wipe my eyes. "Right. Right, we're gonna be fine. Let's do this thing. Kick the future's butt with all we have."

He laughed. "That's the spirit."

* * *

The icy storm outside had only gotten worse.

I was growing concerned that it was much cooler than it was supposed to be outside. It was practically a…a snowstorm.

Azrael was staying in Lu's room, which was also Kaze's room, which was now his room. He had changed into some of Kaze's clothes, and he seemed to be looking at the clothes with the same confusion that he had looked at Kaze with - as though his clothes could tell him about Kaze and explain why he'd done what he did.

The others had gathered on the quarterdeck to discuss strategy as we got closer to Epirus, but it was clearly not a good place to hang out. Wind swept across the deck and the sea churned beneath us. The rocking was making poor Hazel sick as ever, though Piper seemed largely unaffected. The rocking pitching reminded her of surfing with her dad off the California coast. I had tried taking Azrael up there, hoping that the sky would help him feel less confined, but there had been nothing but the storm.

"Need to…" Hazel gagged and pointed below.

"Yeah, go." Nico kissed her cheek, which I found surprising.

He hardly ever made gestures of affection, even to his sister. He seemed to hate physical contact. Kissing Hazel…it was almost like he was saying goodbye. After what happened in Split, Nico had seemed depressed in a way. Usually, he was on edge, shutting the world out and hiding behind his walls as though they could somehow save him from everything. There were things Nico was keeping inside, there still were, but it seemed like he'd gotten a little of it out back in Croatia. Still, Nico didn't want to share and I wasn't going to give anyone anything unless Nico gave consent.

"I'll walk you down," Frank offered, putting his arm around Hazel's waist and helping her to the stairs.

I hoped Hazel would be okay. The past few nights, since that fight with Sciron, we'd had some good talks together. As the only girls left on the ship (especially now that Veon was back and Lu never joined us anyway), the four of us - Piper, Haze, Audrey, and I - it could become daunting at times with the boys outnumbering us. We'd shared stories, complained about the guys' gross habits, and shed some tears together about Annabeth and Lu. Hazel had explained what it was like to control the Mist, and Piper had been surprised by how much it sounded like using charmspeak. Piper and I had offered to help her if we could, and Veon's lessons had picked up again since he didn't know how long he had here. In return, Hazel had promised to coach us in sword fighting - a skill at which Piper epically sucked (her words, not mine. I tried to assure her that she was fine, even if lessons couldn't hurt). Audrey and I had gotten better at melee fighting, but the definition of melee fighting wasn't exactly an organized affair. We were about as good as any other demigod who was just thrown a weapon, flailing around and hoping to strike things. Audrey with her lance was pretty competent, but there was never such a thing as too much training - especially when you were trying to save the world.

It was nice, having a new bundle of friends like this, assuming we lived long enough to enjoy the friendship. But that wasn't the way to keep our spirits up, so any time they brought up the fate of the world, I encouraged them to change the subject.

Now Azrael was with me and had stuck by my side without a word. I made sure that no one disturbed him by asking too many questions, though I could tell that there was a lot on everyone's minds.

Nico brushed some ice from his hair. He frowned at the scepter of Diocletian. "I should put this thing away. If it's really causing the weather, maybe taking it below deck will help…"

"Sure," Jason said.

Nico glanced at Piper and Leo, as if worried what they might say when he was gone. I felt his defenses going up, like he was curling into a psychological ball, the way he'd gone into a death trance in that bronze jar. Veon had explained to me what had happened in Croatia, and I saw Jason's face, his eyes full of concern. Poor Nico was on edge right now. Since Jason knew his secret, Nico was afraid that it'd be shared. It was just like when I had confronted him about knowing. I, unintentionally or not, caused people to trust me almost unconditionally when I was near, and I try to take that in stride. I don't pry into people's personal lives even though I could, I don't push people beyond their limits, and I didn't push Nico to expose himself even though that would've been better for him in the long run. What right do I have to say that I know him better than he knows himself - even if I really do in this case?

Leo pulled a screwdriver from his belt. "So much for the big team meeting. Looks like it's just us again."

I remembered the eternity ago, a wintry day in Chicago last December, when all of us had landed in Millennial Park on our first quest. Leo hadn't changed much since then, except he seemed more comfortable in his role as a child of Hephaestus. He'd always had too much nervous energy, but now he knew how to use it. His hands were constantly in motion, pulling tools from his belt, working controls, tinkering with his beloved Archimedes sphere. Today he'd removed it from the control panel and shut down Festus the figurehead for maintenance - something about rewiring his processor for a motor-control upgrade with the sphere.

Kaze had once been by his side, always fidgeting and wanting to help out with the ship. With his speed, he became  _way_  more ADHD than the rest of us, able to make stuff within seconds, trapped in his own little world when at speed. He was fast, but he couldn't pass the time any faster than when he was at regular speed. Azrael, meanwhile, seemed the opposite, like the world around him moving so fast that he couldn't keep up and so he just sat there, frozen, from our perspective. It was almost as though he wasn't there anymore, or maybe he was staring at another layer of reality that the rest of us couldn't see. Either way, he seemed mesmerized by his thoughts to the point that he didn't even bother trying interacting with us, like it was painful to interact with this world when he could be in his own.

As for Jason, he looked thinner, taller, and more careworn. His hair had gone from close-cropped Roman style to longer and shaggier. The groove Sciron had shot across the left side of his scalp was interesting too - almost like a rebellious streak. His icy blue eyes looked older, somehow - full of worry and responsibility. I couldn't blame him. We were all falling apart without proper leadership, and now even Audrey was starting to falter. She was always on edge, as though anything could pop out of the shadows and she had to make sure that she didn't give away that she was scared when it jumped out. She was trying to bury herself in the affairs of the ship - focusing on our course and looking out for monsters, always checking in on everyone periodically, as though she was afraid of being alone. Now, Jason was the most leader-ish of the group, and while he was fully qualified - having been a former praetor of the Twelfth Legion - he had begun to change from a praetor. He enjoyed being Greek, what was so wrong with that? Apparently, it seemed to be getting him down.

According to Veon, Cupid had said that only a leader of Rome could command the armies of the dead made with Diocletian's scepter, as though Jason wasn't one. Maybe he wasn't anymore. Maybe he had gotten attached to being Greek. The Romans would frown upon him for that, but there was nothing wrong with liking the Greek way of life - no different than liking the color red versus the color blue. It was an opinion, it did no harm. Romans were strict and powerful, but in turn, they could be just rude. Now, even Reyna was beginning to lose the trust of her legion. We had to hurry.

I knew what the crew whispered about Jason - he was  _too_  perfect, too straitlaced. If that had ever been true, it wasn't anymore. He'd been battered on this journey, and not just physically. His hardships hadn't weakened him, but he'd been weathered and softened like leather - as if he were becoming a more comfortable version of himself.

And Piper? What had changed about her? She was definitely not the person that we'd first met last winter, a girl who wasn't confident in herself and didn't like the spotlight, the one who was okay with being the one who wasn't the prettiest and wasn't the most famous. She wasn't the daughter of a movie star who wanted her father's attention, wondering who her mother was and why she had left. Piper had gotten a cornucopia from that guy in the river and stood up to Heracles because it was what was in her heart. She went on this dangerous journey because she wanted to save the world - not for the glory and fame, not for the power that she might be given in return. She did this for her father, for the friends and family that she'd made at Camp Half-Blood. And she was strong. She was so much stronger than before.

That first quest to rescue Hera seemed like centuries ago. So much had changed in seven months…. I wondered how the gods could stand being alive for thousands of years. How much change had  _they_  seen? The gods themselves weren't much for change, but they still adapted as time went on - coming to America, hiding out in the modern world. Maybe it wasn't surprising that the Olympians seemed a little crazy. If I had lived through three millennia, I probably would've gone loopy or have been really depressed at the thought of seeing things just come and go.

I gazed at the cold rain that was now pouring down. Camp Half-Blood had controlled weather even in the winter. The images Piper had seen on her knife and shared with me weren't very comforting.

Jason squeezed Piper's shoulder. "Hey, it'll be fine. We're close to Epirus now. Another day or so, if Nico and Audrey's directions are right."

Audrey had double, triple, quadruple, quintuple checked that they were following Nico's directions exactly, so the only reason we wouldn't make it was because of a big sea monster. With Audrey as agitated as she was, I don't think any sea creature, in general, would dare come within a hundred nautical miles of this ship.

"Yep," Leo agreed. He tinkered with his sphere, tapping and nudging one of the jewels on its surface. "By tomorrow morning, we'll reach the western coast of Greece. Then another hour inland, and bang - House of Hades! I'ma get me the T-shirt!"

"Yay," Piper muttered.

"If they have T-shirts, that would be cool," I added.

Azrael continued to stare into the distance.

Plunging into the darkness again didn't sound too appealing, I could sense Piper's agitation. She still had nightmares about the nymphaeum and the hypogeum under Rome. In the blade of Katoptris, she'd seen images similar to what the others had described from their dreams - a pale sorceress in a gold dress, her hands weaving golden light in the air like silk on a loom; a giant wrapped in shadows, marching down a long corridor lined with torches. As he passed each one, the flames died. She saw a huge cavern filled with monsters - Cyclopes, Earthborn, and stranger things - surrounding us all, hopelessly outnumbered them. She had seen a screaming Veon, the darkness engulfing him, or maybe it was coming  _from_  him, and then Lu facing him, throwing her arms out before everything exploded. Every time she saw those images, a voice in her head kept repeating one line over and over.

"Guys," Piper announced. "I've been thinking about the Prophecy of Seven."

It normally took a lot to get Leo away from his work, but that statement did the trick. "What about it? Like…good stuff, I hope?"

She readjusted her cornucopia's shoulder strap. Sometimes the horn of plenty seemed so light she forgot about it, other times it felt like an anvil, as if the river god Achelous was sending out bad thoughts, trying to punish her for taking his horn.

"In Katoptris," She started. "I keep seeing that giant Clytius - the guy who's wrapped in shadows. I know his weakness is fire, but in my visions, he snuffs out flames wherever he goes. Any kind of light just gets sucked into his cloud of darkness."

"Sounds like Nico," Leo said. "You think they're related?"

Jason scowled. "Hey, man, cut Nico some slack. So Piper, what about this giant? What are you thinking?"

Piper and Leo exchanged a quizzical look, like, ' _Since when does Jason defend Nico di Angelo?_ ' They decided not to comment.

I keep thinking about fire," Piper said. "How can we expect Leo - even with Emily there too - to beat this giant because he's…"

"Hot?" Leo suggested with a grin.

"Um, let's go with  _flammable_. Anyway, that line from the prophecy bothers me: ' _To storm or fire the world must fall._ '"

"Yeah, we know all about it," Leo promised. "You're gonna say I'm fire and Jason here is storm. Or Emily and Lu with their crazy versions of it. Or both.

Piper nodded reluctantly. No one liked talking about this, but there was no denying that this was the truth, a future we'd have to face eventually. The ship pitched to starboard. Jason grabbed the icy railing.

"So you're worried one of us will endanger the quest or maybe accidentally destroy the world?"

"With Lu jumping into Tartarus, she's endangered the world a lot," Leo pointed out. "Then again, whatever gods or Fates put a bunch of teenagers in charge of saving the world endangered it a lot more."

"Guys, I think I know what Piper's talking about," I announced. "I've had the same thought myself sometimes."

"Care to enlighten us?" Jason asked.

"What if we've been reading that line the wrong way?" Piper began. "The  _world_ …the Earth."

I continued. "In Greek, the word for the Earth would be-"

I was hesitant to say the name aloud, even when we were at sea.

"Gaea," Jason realized, his eyes gleaming with sudden interest. "You mean, ' _To storm or fire Gaea must fall?'_ "

"Oh…" Leo grinned even wider. "You know, I like your version a lot better. 'Cause if Gaea falls to me, Mr. Fire, that is absolutely copacetic."

"Or to me…storm." Jason kissed Piper. "That's brilliant! If you're right, this is great news. We just have to figure out who destroys Gaea."

"Maybe," Piper said, not sharing his enthusiasm. Getting their hopes up was an uneasy process. "But see…it's storm  _or_  fire…"

She unsheathed Katoptris and set it on the console. Immediately, the blade flickered, showing the dark shape of the giant Clytius moving through a corridor, snuffing out torches.

"I'm worried about Leo and this fight with Clytius. That line in the prophecy makes it sound like only  _one_  of you can succeed. And if the  _storm or fire_  part is connected to the third line, ' _An oath to keep with a final breath…_ '"

She didn't need to finish the thought, but from Jason and Leo's expressions, I saw they understood. If she was reading the prophecy right, either one of us in the storm or fire categories would defeat Gaea. Another would die.

Leo stared at the dagger. "Okay…so I don't like your idea as much as I thought. You think one of us defeats Gaea and the other one dies? Or maybe one of us dies  _while_  defeating her? Or-"

"Guys," Jason interrupted. "We'll drive ourselves crazy overthinking it. You know how prophecies are. Heroes always get in trouble trying to thwart them."

"Yeah," Leo muttered. "We'd  _hate_  to get in trouble. We've got it so good right now."

"You know what I mean. The  _final breath_  line might not be connected to the  _storm or fire_  part. For all we know, the two of us aren't even storm and fire. Percy and Audrey can raise hurricanes, maybe Veon has access to some kind of Hellfire. I wouldn't be surprised if technicalities bit us here."

"And I could always set Coach Hedge on fire," Leo volunteered. "Then  _he_  can be fire."

The thought of a blazing satyr screaming, ' _Die, scumbag!_ ' as he attacked Gaea was almost enough to make us laugh - almost.

"I hope I'm wrong," Piper said cautiously. "But the whole quest started with us finding Hera and waking the giant king Porphyrion. I have a feeling the war will end with us too, for better or worse."

"Hey," Jason said. "Personally, I  _like_  us."

"Agreed," Leo said. " _Us_  is my favorite people."

Piper managed a smile. These guys really knew how to cheer her up. Piper told me once that she wished she could just use her charmspeak on the Fates, describe a happy ending, and force them to make it come true. Unfortunately, it was hard to imagine a happy ending with all the dark thoughts in her head. She worried that the giant Clytius had been put in their path to eliminate Leo as a threat. If so, that meant Gaea would also try to eliminate Jason. Lu was already a back and forth case, fighting Tartarus and only joining us when I could somehow switch her in for Veon. Veon  _may_  have some Hellfire attack, but that wasn't a guarantee and he'd shown no signs of it before. I was invincible, but there were ways to destroy someone that didn't require physical might. Whatever was happening to Audrey was entirely mental, and it could just as easily be passed on to me.

Not to mention this winter weather bothering me too. There was just something off about it. I was certain it was being caused by something more than just Diocletian's scepter. The cold wind, the mix of ice and rain, it all seemed actively hostile, and somehow familiar. Then there was the smell in the air, the thick smell of impending snow.

Azrael suddenly stood.

"Azrael?" I asked. "What is it?"

He understood my questioning tone and pointed out into the blizzard. " _Sie_   _kommt_."

Piper tensed. "Leo, sound the alarm."

She hadn't realized she was charmspeaking, but Leo immediately dropped his screwdriver and punched the alarm button. He frowned when nothing happened.

"Uh, it's disconnected," He remembered. "Festus is shut down. Gimme a minute to get the system back online."

"We don't have a minute! Fires - we need vials of Greek fire. Jason, call the winds. Warm, southerly winds."

"Wait, what?" Jason stared at her in confusion. "Piper, what's wrong?"

"It's her!" Piper snatched up her dagger. "She's back!"

" _Sie kommt. Sie kommt! SIE KOMMT!_ " Azrael shouted with more and more panic each time.

"Who's coming?!" Veon shouted as he ran up the deck.

"What's he saying?" I asked.

"' _She comes_. Just over and over. ' _She comes. She comes. She comes_.'"

Azrael grabbed Veon's arm. " _Sie sind bei ihr!_ "

"'They are with her.'"

"How many?" I asked.

" _Wie viele?_ "

" _Die Brüder! Zwei!_ " Azrael responded.

"The brothers. Two."

"Two brothers and a girl…a blizzard…." I thought back to everything that we'd encountered.

The first thing that we'd ever encountered on our first quest was in Quebec with-

"Veon, alert the others! The alarms are down! Get Audrey, we need her melting powers! Just scream and shout! Get everyone on alert!"

"Why? What are you-?" He seemed to have the same realization as I did because he froze in thought. "I'm on it! Hold down the fort!"

He sprinted away and Azrael pointed out into the storm. There was no way to see what he was identifying, but they were out there, they  _had_  to be.

" _Sie kommen an!_ "

Well based on his previous translations, I had to assume that meant something along the lines of them coming closer.

The boat listed port. The temperature dropped so fast, the sails cracked with ice. The bronze shields along the rails popped like over-pressurized soda cans. I grabbed Azrael and dived down under the console, summoning protective flames around him. He wasn't very big, but neither was I. Still, I managed to shield him and summon my flames in a small ball. Jason drew his sword but it was too late. A wave of ice particles swept over him, coating him like a glazed donut and freezing him in place. Under a layer of ice, his eyes were wide with amazement. The ice nearly hit us by accident, but it just grazed the edge of my protective flame barrier, disturbing it, but not putting it out, and a moment later it was back at full strength.

I wanted to tell the others to dive under the console with me, but I had to concentrate hard to keep the fire up against the ice. It was now fighting against me, it knew that I was standing between it and victory.

"Leo! Flames! Now!" Piper screamed.

Leo's right hand blazed, but the wind swirled around him and doused the fire. Leo clutched his Archimedes sphere as a funnel cloud of sleet lifted him off his feet.

"Hey!" He yelled. "Hey! Let me go!"

Piper ran towards him, but a voice in the storm said, "Oh, yes, Leo Valdez. I will let you go  _permanently_."

Leo shot skyward like he'd been launched from a catapult. I reached out to grab his foot, temporarily lowering my defenses, but Leo shot away before I could grab him, disappearing into the clouds.

"No!"

Piper raised her knife, but there was nothing to attack. She looked desperately at the stairwell, hoping to see the others charging to the rescue, but a block of ice had sealed the hatch. The whole lower deck might have been frozen solid. She looked at her weapons, but all she had was her voice, a stupid fortune-telling dagger, and a cornucopia that shot ham and fresh fruit. She looked over to the ballista, but then the enemies approached.

Standing amidships was a girl in a flowing dress of white silk, her mane of black hair pinned back with a circlet of diamonds. Her eyes were the color of coffee but without the warmth. Behind her stood her two brothers - two young men with purple-feathered wings, stark white hair, and jagged swords of Celestial bronze.

"So good to see you again,  _ma chére_ ," Said Khione, the goddess of snow. "It's time we had a very cold reunion."


	28. The Strength of Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Managed to make this chapter among all the chaos going on around here. I quiet enjoyed making this chapter, but, no offense to Piper, I hated Khione and these chapters were kinda boring. As such, I added my own stuff that I had been meaning to add for a while.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> :)

First Person: Audrey

I hated the cold.

I usually liked it no different than warm weather, but I got pissed when my water was frozen with me still inside it. If it weren't thanks to Ariel, I might've been completely frozen. I had been swimming around in my waterbed when the next thing I knew I was being shouted at by Ariel. Somehow, I had blacked out in my waterbed, but then my horse revealed that the entire lower deck of the ship was frozen.

I climbed out, finally realizing what she meant. It was freezing out here. Luckily water insulated from the cold and I could control the temperature of the water, or else I probably would've frozen again upon landing on the floor of my room. Ariel whinnied behind me that the others were frozen too. I pulled on the door, but it was frozen shut, so I melted the ice around it. However, the ice instantly tried to freeze over the water again. Like the ice was alive.

"Who did this, Ariel? Do you know?"

" _Khione, that stupid ice goddess_ ," Ariel said. " _Such a spoiled brat._ "

"Khione…that daughter of the North Wind? One with the dumb brothers who got stopped by her dad when we visited her. Yeah, I know her. What the heck is she doing  _here?_ "

" _Have you fought her before?_ "

"I mean that was Lu who did that and…and she's not here. Great. Well, technically it was Zyanya. If we can get to Veon, maybe  _he_  can help."

I melted the door open again and this time kept focusing on melting any ice that came out way. Ariel was definitely unhappy at the ice as it tried to fight back. As it turns out, the entire hallway was a literal block of ice. I had little doubt that my room would've been a giant block of ice too had Ariel not melted it free. We made out way over to Veon and Nico's room, which took constant concentration to prevent the entire area from freezing around us and made our way inside.

Nico was the first I saw. He had his hand on his sword, turned and ready for a fight, but the ice had frozen him before that could happen. Veon was behind him, on the floor and unconscious. I made my way over to them and carefully unfroze them, explaining the situation to Nico. Veon was still unconscious even when he was unfrozen, and Nico explained what happened.

"We didn't notice the cold at first," Nico said.

" _Yeah, those two are like ghosts already,_ " Ariel said. " _They probably_ belong _as ice cubes._ "

"By the time we saw the frost, it was too late. Veon had been shouting that an attack was coming, Khione, the ice goddess, bad news, prepare for the cold. He made it to this room last, but he started complaining about a headache and then he just passed out. Before I could check him out, the frost took over."

That was probably more talking than Nico had done in ages, I thought to myself.

Nico and I moved Veon onto the bed (the guy was so big that it took both of us working together) before we started to come up with a plan of attack.

"Where's Leo? And Emily?"

"Last I saw, they were up on deck," Nico said.

"Meaning Khione has probably already frozen them with extreme prejudice."

"Jason and Piper were up there too. And Azrael."

"Hazel and Frank are probably in her room, but Hazel's seasick enough as it is, so I don't think she'll be able to help. Besides, what can gems really do to help our cause? Maybe Frank could transform into a polar bear, but we can't fight an ice goddess with that, she can just blast him frozen."

"You're the only one who can fight her freezing powers. If Jason's up there, then he's probably frozen too, so even if the scepter of Diocletian could be used, we'd have no one able to command the legions of the dead."

"Okay, okay, so it's up to me and Ariel."

The horse whinnied. " _I say we kick her in the head and then boil her till she blows up!_ "

"You really  _are_  a daughter of Poseidon. You're nearly as bad as Arion."

"Excuse _me?! I am_ way _better than that low life!_ "

"Now, now, behave. At least you don't curse like a sailor. Now, we'll need an actual plan of attack."

" _Charge in, water blazing! Did you not hear me before?!_ "

"While that's tempting, how about we first scout out what's happening up there first?"

"Ah,  _there's_  a thought…" Nico said as though he was some kind of game-show host.

"What?" I asked.

"Why is Khione still up  _there_ -" He pointed up at the ceiling. "-rather than down  _here?_  If she's taken out everyone up there, what would she be doing up there if not looking for the rest of us to turn us into statues?"

I paused in thought. "Someone's still up there, not frozen, buying time."

"Exactly. Meaning that's a good plan. Take in the situation, then take all of them buy surprise. If you think you're up for it, you might be able to completely take out Khione in one move."

" _If I've got the_ strength? _How dare you even question that?!_ " Ariel nickered.

"Then it's settled," I said. "But what about you?"

He shrugged. "I can't be much use to you, but I  _can_  say that Azrael has disappeared."

I tensed and turned to him. " _What?_ "

"He walked into the Veil. I'm not sure how that's possible, but-"

" _What_  is the  _Veil?_ "

"Basically a realm of ghosts, where they get caught when they've escaped or refuse to come to the Underworld. It's another layer of reality on top of the current one, a layer for souls."

"Emily said that Kaze had said that Azrael had said he could tear out souls, right?"

Nico nodded. "I'm not sure what that kid is, but he's definitely  _alive_. Even Veon and I have trouble accessing the Veil, let alone fully stepping into it. Somehow, Azrael has gotten in."

"Is it dangerous in there?"

He shrugged. "It's full of ghosts, not all of them completely sane. But I think Azrael can handle himself. If he has the power to extract souls, he has the ability to touch the creatures in the Veil, and if you can touch something-"

"You can punch it."

"Well, I was gonna say you can dispel the souls back to the Underworld where they belong, but sure, let's go with that."

"We have to get him out of there. Can you-?"

"Possibly, but I think that he can get out on his own."

"What makes you say that?"

"He's slipped into the Veil before, just not completely. All the times that he's staring off into space for hours on end, not responding to anyone? He's in the Veil, or at least, he's touching it. He's come out of it before, he's fully capable. But right now, with Khione up there, he might have slipped into it because of the danger."

"So either way we need to stop her. Got it. Let's go, Ariel."

I hurried to the door to join Ariel, but Nico stopped me. "Wait, Audrey."

I looked back. "Hm?"

"You're connected to the Veil right now too. Whatever happened when you died, something in the Veil grabbed onto you and it's not going to let go."

"Can you…see what it is?"

He shook his head. "It's all blurry. There's too much to make sense of. But it's dark. It's evil, malicious, and it's going to use you."

"Use me? How?"

"It'll mentally break you, then it'll kill you and add you to it's numbers, and once you're gone it'll use your body."

"So an evil ghost thing? Great."

"It's years upon  _years_  of misery and suffering, all taking it out on you. Be careful, Audrey. Whatever they make you see, once they start to trick you into thinking it's real, it won't be fake anymore. It'll really be you they're killing, and then you'll just be one more of the dead among the rest."

"Can't you or Ve stop it?"

He shook his head. "Not without becoming one of them instantly. It's inside  _you_  and a body is the one thing that it doesn't have. You have a body, you can beat it. But you have to be careful."

I nodded. "Right. But first thing's first. I'ma go fight an ice goddess. Sounds like  _nothing_  compared to the swarm of angry ghosts."

* * *

"Alas, my dear Piper! But it is for the best. Leo could not be tolerated, even as an ice statue…not after he insulted me. The fool refused to rule at my side! And his power over fire…he could not be allowed to reach the House of Hades. I'm afraid Lord Clytius likes fire even less than I do."

I hovered under the main deck, masking my presence inside of a ball of ice. Hopefully Khione couldn't sense that I was up and active down here, but if she did, maybe that would buy Piper enough time to come up with a plan. Beyond the fact that Khione and her brothers had taken over after their father was incapacitated and were now working for Gaea, there wasn't much important or new info to be revealed. The only reason Piper was still alive and unfrozen was because Zethes wanted her (blech) and Khione found her no threat.

A bomb. That got my attention.

Khione wanted to leave Piper stranded on the ship, unleashing the full force of the northern winds to blow the ship off course. Now  _that_  was unforgivable. And we didn't have Kaze here to remedy that little issue.

Oh Piper. Too many times had people looked down on her because she wasn't powerful. Khione wanted her to snap, hitting her with harsh and biting words. Girls had always made fun of her because she wasn't like them for some reason; Drew had looked down on her back when she was the counselor of the Aphrodite cabin; Medea, the charmspeaker in Chicago; Jessica, her dad's old assistant who had always treated her like a useless brat.

" _It's never been true. Each of them berated you because they feared you and envied you. So does Khione. Use that!_ "

Well, I guess Aphrodite could be motherly when she needed to.

I searched around the deck, trying to remain unseen and unheard while coming up with a plan. I could take on Khione, but with Zethes and Calais, there might be issues. They were dumb, but they knew how to fight. I heard Piper laughing as hard as she could. She had come up with a plan to goad them into a trap. Festus. She was going for Festus.

I snuck through the floorboards and up to the console where Emily was hiding. She informed me of everything that I'd missed, Leo getting thrown up into the sky, as well as Khione's plans. I saw the Boreads - two young men with purple-feathered wings, stark white hair, and jagged swords of Celestial bronze. The bigger brother, Cal, short for Calais, was dressed exactly as he had been in Quebec - in cleats, sweatpants, and a red hockey jersey - and had two black eyes and several broken teeth. Zethes, the scrawny one, still had his white hair feathered in a horrible Disco Age mullet, the collar of his silk shirt sticking out over his breastplate. His chartreuse polyester pants were grotesquely tight, and his acne had only gotten worse. Despite that, he was still attempting to charm Piper, speaking in Québécois French - which Piper could sadly translate thanks to Aphrodite being her mother. French was apparently the language of love. I mean, really, there are a  _lot_  of similar languages.

Piper was walking over to Festus, buying time by insulting Khione about how we had beat her back at the Wolf House. Apparently, her brothers hadn't known that.

Piper stroked the metal dragon's snout, his ruby eyes dull and dark. She was pouring all the emotion that she could into her words, and I could almost feel the wave of emotion all the way from across the ship where I could barely hear her.

"Festus is more than a machine. He's a living creature."

"She's trying to awaken Festus," I realized when I saw what Piper was doing.

Charmspeak worked a lot like the Mist. During our previous talk together, Hazel had explained how she had gotten the Mist to work - she needed to get into the mind of her target, make them believe  _they_  are in full control. Sciron was a greedy and overconfident bandit, most of their enemies were overconfident. A that was their weakness. Aphrodite wasn't about head-on confrontation. Aphrodite was about subtlety and guile and charm. Piper couldn't focus on making people do what she wanted. She needed to push them to do the things  _they_  wanted.

"You could shut me up, but you want to know my secret power - how I will destroy you, and Gaea, and the giants."

Hatred seethed in Khione's eyes, but she withheld her frost. "You…have… _no_ … _power_ ," She insisted.

"Spoken like a D-list goddess. One who never gets taken seriously, who  _always_  wants more power."

Piper was insulting Khione, buying time.

"We need to help her," I whispered to Emily. "You have Leo's smarts, right?"

Emily nodded. "I could probably get Festus working again, but without Leo actually  _here_ , I'm working on reserve energy. My mind doesn't work like his, it only mimics him when he's around."

"We need to find a way to take out the brothers. After that, I can probably handle Khione. But we can't let that wind blast bomb go off. We can't lose that much time."

She nodded. She moved her hand to her pin - the Dove of Aphrodite.

"What is it?" I asked. "You have that look in your eye, that look where you've got an idea."

She ran her finger over the Dove. "Maybe…"

For a moment, there was nothing. Nothing happened, Emily did nothing. Then, there really  _was_  nothing.

"Emily?" I hissed. "Emily!"

She was gone. She had been there a second ago, I could've  _sworn_  it. I looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. It was like…she was in a blind spot. The  _one_  place that my eyes didn't want to look. My mind had checked off the area and I refused to look there, and even when I did, I didn't remember anything.

"Invisibility. What a concept."

I guess her pin  _had_  been able to blend in with her outfit. But it wasn't just invisibility, it was looking like you belong. Making people think what you want, making them think what  _they_  want. Man, these charmspeakers be messing with my mind.

"Our secret weapon, Khione! We're not just a bunch of demigods. We're a team. Just like Festus isn't only a collection of parts. He's  _alive_. He's  _my friend_. And when his friends are in trouble, especially Leo, he can wake up  _on his own_."

I saw the frozen wind bomb on the deck. Piper had bought us the seconds that we needed. I waved my hand and summoned the water to swirl around the small snowball of a bomb and then freeze around it, pulling it in my direction. I couldn't break it or else the storm released would be too powerful, but I _could_ wrap it inside of some protection so that it couldn't be disturbed. I carefully pulled it in my direction, sliding it across the deck and out of their reach.

Piper continued to speak loudly, not even looking at where the bomb was. Did she even know what I was doing?

Whatever. I almost had it. Just a few more feet.

"I  _see_  you, Audrey Mavepo."

I looked up to see Khione staring at me. There was only a moment to take in how screwed we might be before she raised her hand and I felt the cold seeping in.

* * *

First Person: Emily

I had reached Festus. I whispered thoughts to him, imagining the dragon as a real creature. It wasn't hard. I had known Festus for a long time, just as long as Leo, and I had been around Leo long enough to remember his feelings for the dragon along with my own. Festus had always been a living creature, he had just been made of metal. We had emotions for the dragon, we cared for him and we had given him a soul of sorts. It was kinda like a riddle. If you have a hole inside of a wall, what's  _really_  defining the hole? Is it the air that's let through the wall? Or is it the shape of the wall that's making a hole?

I guess that's pretty complicated, but basically, if we all see a soul in Festus, that meant that he has  _something_ , something that touched each of our hearts. Aphrodite was one of the most primordial of the Olympians, love was a powerful force that controlled every sentient being, it was probably what  _defined_  a sentient being. I felt a  _soul_  in Festus, I know that the others did too. We  _gave_  him that soul.

Festus just needed to feel it as well.

"I  _see_  you, Audrey Mavepo."

Khione turned around to zero in on Audrey's location - who had been focused on drawing the wind bomb to her as slowly and steadily as possible. Piper had lost the Boreads' attention, she had lost their curious gazes, she had lost her distraction. Khione waved a hand and shot out an icy blast at Audrey, who only had a moment to brace herself before she was frozen.

Now Festus.  _Now!_

Khione turned back to Piper. "Was that your final hope, girl? I was right, you  _are_  useless! Having to rely on your friends here to always save you. Well, no more help left, little Piper."

"Think… _again!_ "

Audrey struggled her way free of the ice, melting it furiously and fighting off the cold. She drew her trident and aimed it at the Boreads.

"Come and get it, you hot-heads."

Khione seethed. " _Hot?_ "

"That's right," Audrey taunted. "It's burning  _up_  in here. I never  _knew_  you were such a  _warming_  person!"

Khione growled. "You  _foolish_  child!  _Kill_  her!"

Zethes and Calais understood that command. They flew forward, their swords drawn. Audrey jumped forward and parried Zethes's blade before using him as leverage to kick Calais as he few forward, and he had just a few moments to realize what was going to happen before he was kicked in the face. Frost threatened to take over Audrey's trident, but she resisted it and then threw Zethes back towards his fallen brother on the deck. She landed and waved her weapon, summoning a wave of water from the ice and snow around her.

"That all you got? Who's the weak one  _now_  Khione? Relying on your brothers to stop little old me?"

Khione growled. "Gaea had  _special_  plans for you, daughter of the sea god. But what can be done if there was a little  _accident_  in your retrieval?!"

She shot a freezing ice blast from her hand, flying forward in a fury of cold. Audrey was put on the defensive, using all her concentration to resist Khione's ice power from freezing her as well as moving to dodge Khione's attack. Zethes and Calais had recovered as well and were now charging in screaming something about helping. Audrey was going to be overwhelmed.

"Ariel!"

The horse came sweeping onto the battlefield like a tidal wave, charging in to sweep the Boreads under a wave of water that was boiling hot, just under the boiling temperature of water so that it could resist the freezing temperatures without actually being nothing but steam. Now the horse was taking on the two sword-welding brothers while Audrey played a defensive game with Khione herself.

I concentrated and sent a warming, healing fire through my fingertips to Festus. I focused on the blessing from the Hearth of Hestia, gave all the fire that I could and then summoned a flame to give Festus the power he needed.

"Festus, we need you, buddy," Piper begged. "Come on, I  _know_  you've alive in there. You're our friend, and you won't be stopped by a shutdown. We need you,  _Leo_  needs you. Please, Festus!"

" _The Flame of Life burns within this creature. Emily Hezesto, the Flame is yours to command. Good luck, my dear._ "

The dragon's metal skin grew warm.

"Down!" I shouted.

Piper dove out of the way as Festus turned his head 180 degrees. Ariel kicked the two brothers back, right into the line of fire so that Festus blasted the two Boreads, vaporizing them on the spot. For some reason, Zethes's sword was spared. It clunked to the deck, still steaming. Piper scrambled to her feet. She went for the sphere of winds at the base of the forecast, but before she could get close, Khione materialized in front of her in a swirl of frost. Her skin glowed bright enough to cause snow blindness.

"You  _miserable_  girl," She hissed. "You think you can defeat me - a  _goddess?_ "

Festus roared and blew steam, but even he was smart enough to know that he couldn't breathe fire again without hitting her. Audrey held her hand out and summoned the ice sphere filled with the north winds, avoiding subtly as she worked frantically to seal it since it had started to crack and hiss. Piper was also out of time for subtly. She yelled and raised her dagger, charging the goddess.

Khione grabbed her wrist. Ice spread over Piper's arm. The blade of Katoptris turned white. The goddess's face was only six inches from hers. Khione smiled, knowing she had won.

"Piper!" Audrey shouted. "Let her go!"

"Or  _what_  child of the sea god?" Khione hissed. "Why would I when I'm having much more  _fun_  like this?! Or would you rather have that wind released and have this entire ship blown away? Wouldn't that be a  _fun_ adventure? How would you complete your little quest then?"

Audrey growled but Khione was specifically pushing with her power to break open the wind bomb, and Audrey had to freeze it with both hands to make sure that it didn't open.

"A child of Aphrodite," Khione chided. "You are  _nothing_."

Festus freaked again, trying to shout encouragement.

"You are  _not_  nothing!" I called. "You are Piper McLean! You are strong! You can do this!"

The flames of my hearth bloomed from Piper's chest, but it wasn't me that was doing it. She was summoning my flames on her own. She loved Festus, she loved Jason, she loved all her friends here on the ship, and she loved Leo, who now needed her help. Maybe love was no match for ice…but Piper had used it to wake a metal dragon. Mortals did superhuman feats in the name of love all the time. Mothers lifted cars to save their children, lovers would go to greater lengths than any to save those they loved. And Piper was more than just mortal. She was a demigod. A hero.

The ice melted on her blade. Her arm steamed under Khione's grip.

"Still underestimating me," Piper told the goddess. "You really need to work on that."

Khione's smug expression faltered as Piper drove her dagger straight down. The blade touched Khione's chest and the goddess staggered back, releasing a piercing scream of pain.

"Piper!" Audrey shouted.

She was layering more and more ice into the sphere, but the winds were breaking free. This  _was_  all of the north winds together, after all.

Piper sprinted over, but Khione thrust out her hand and grabbed Piper's wrist despite the steam coming from their contact. "This is not over! You are  _nothing_ , child of Aphrodite! If I am to perish here, you will as well!"

A miniature blizzard swirled around the two of them as Piper tried to rip her hand free.

"Piper!"

Audrey shot a whip of water forward to slice Khione's wrist. Piper lurched free, falling into the high winds and freezing temperature, but Ariel zipped in and pulled her to safety. Khione screamed as her blizzard increased in power and mixed with the winds escaping from the wind bomb now that Audrey's attention had lagged.

Festus clacked and whirred, the reactivated alarm bells ringing in alarm.

"Brace yourselves!" Audrey screamed.

Ariel dived towards the deck and shielded Piper against the railing. I grabbed Festus and held on tight, summoning my protective flames. Audrey chucked the bomb away just as the ice shattered and the winds exploded.

* * *

First Person: Azrael

Why did the thing on the brown-haired girl's back just spit a blueberry muffin? Or was it not a muffin, it was something that was supposed to be useful? Like a bomb. Or maybe it thought that a muffin  _was_  useful. Maybe her horn thing had sensed her distress and thought she and her visitors could use some warm baked goods. Half a dozen of those things flew from the small horn like buckshot. It wasn't the most effective opening attack. A little horn thing that shot out an infinite number of things? That might be useful.

I hadn't had a muffin since I was little and stole one during a fancy party that my parents had taken me to. It was a vague memory, but I knew what a muffin was, at least. I had been taken to the Ward when I was still very little, but not little enough to have not developed my first few memories. Even so, it wasn't like I could recall my parents faces. I think they were arguing sometimes, but they always made up. I think my mom was shouting a lot when I got taken away. Some big man in black had said I needed to go. My dad fought to keep my mom calm and argue in his own way. In the end, I was left alone, before the Wards picked me up a few days later. I went through a couple places, but eventually I ended up in Ward K. I stayed there for years, until I finally found my opportunity to escape. They thought that I had been broken,  _I_  thought that I had been broken. But I had seen my opening and I took it and I ran.

Now I had been taken onto a ship of people like me. They were just like the kids at Ward K, except for they were so much more unafraid. They were saving the world, apparently, whatever that meant. They weren't as broken as the kids back at the Ward - at least most of them. That shorter kid with death powers like mine seemed to be traumatized. Maybe he was a Ward rescue too. The only ones that had been able to understand me were the tall death kid and that Kaze kid. The tall one offered to make me something that would help me translate just like Kaze, but I didn't want to hear more people's voices, know what they were talking about. They were probably talking about me, dropping me off at the next stop and leaving me. Maybe it was the nice girl that convinced them to keep me, maybe it was the only one that could understand me.

The cold was out there, I could sense it. The darkness, the death. I hated that cold, I hated that goddess like I hated all others. I was wrapped up, hidden under the console of the ship. I could see the blonde-haired boy's legs where he was frozen in front of me. I could see the pretty brown-haired girl who didn't want to be pretty. I was surrounded by the nice girl's warmth.

I didn't care for names, even though I'd been told them. I just knew who was nice and who I didn't have to associate myself with.

Brown-haired girl's muffins sailed forward, as though trying - and failing - to defend her. The ice lady simply leaned to one side and her brothers each caught one and began to eat. Children of the north, that is what I knew them as. Children of Boreas. Boreads.

I saw a little ghost waving at me. It was just a blur, and in the icy air it was almost invisible, but I could sense it. I reached out for it, knowing that it wanted me to take its hand, but the nice girl stopped me. Stay inside the safe fire, she ordered me with her powers. I knew that she could simply project her feelings onto whoever she wanted, as well as sensing the feelings of someone else. It was a nice way of communicating, without the weight of words, with complete understanding. But I have to go, I told her. I need to reach it. She was confused, she couldn't see the ghost. I could see them all around, but no one else could. Except for the tall one that could communicate with me and the short one who I suspected was from another Ward. They interacted with the ghosts on a regular basis.

I pushed out of the nice girl's grip and slid underneath the console to follow the ghost. It wanted me to follow it. It wanted me to take its hand. I reached out to touch it, and suddenly the world became lighter for me. I had done this before, I had walked into the realm of the ghosts and out of the world of reality. I called it 'Ghosting. 'It wasn't an easy feat though, and I could never sustain it for long. Sometimes I went in and out without realizing it; sometimes I wanted to so desperately, but I was unable to. This time, I got pulled in by the ghost. That had rarely happened. Sometimes I grabbed a ghost and pulled myself into my Ghosting state, but this one had pulled me in.

The rest of the world blurred, and the ghost became clear. It was a woman with long, dirty-blonde hair pulled up in a messy braid. She had a mild tan and blue-green eyes, staring at me like she couldn't believe I existed.

"What the…?"

Oh, she spoke German.

"Hello."

"You're not…I thought you were a trapped ghost in the Veil."

"Veil?"

"This is the Veil, only those given permission are allowed to traverse it. Humans get trapped here when they refuse to come to the Underworld or when they try to escape. In our case, we Reapers have access to it all the time. You…you must have access to it too."

"Me?"

She pulled me into a hug. "You're real. Y-Y-You-You're really real…"

"Um… _ja_ , I am."

"I'm so  _sorry_ , Azrael."

"You know me?"

She pulled back and held me by the shoulders. The contact was awkward, the way she was looking at me was awkward, the way she was crying was awkward, but I didn't have the heart to stop her. In fact, I actually felt like I didn't want her to stop. It wasn't like before when I'd learned to shut out the world. I hated Ward K, but I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't run, I couldn't die, I couldn't escape to my safe space in my mind for very long. When this woman pulled me into another hug - which was  _also_  awkward considering I wasn't sure whether I should reciprocate or not - I  _felt_  like I hadn't ever before.

It was peace, I realized. This woman, this place, it was peace for me. Peace I'd never known before.

"I'm so sorry! I left you all alone and I…I saw what was happening and I couldn't do  _anything!_ " She pulled back abruptly. "W-Wait, how are you here  _now?_  You've never made it fully into the Veil before."

The Veil. This was the place that I faded into so often, seeing the little blurs that were ghosts and hearing their thoughts and desires, their fears and determination to stay in this world, their lost feelings of emptiness and the miseries of their lives that followed them through their deaths. Ghosting into the Veil was so peaceful for me, but I suppose this woman was saying that I had never  _really_  entered the Veil before, I had only touched it. Now that I was  _here_  thanks to her pulling me in, I felt so at ease. It was like I had been living in the wrong body all my life - a body in general. Here, it was just me - my soul, my spirit - and I was so light, comfortable, at home.

"You haven't  _died_ , have you?" She asked me.

I shook my head. "I don't think so."

"You're…you're special. You're alive, but you're a Reaper…"

"What's a Reaper?"

She sighed. "A very rare kind of person. You see, when someone dies, they go to the Underworld. But recently, things have gotten a bit complicated. Those people who took you? They've been messing with the world. But what got me was a goddess who just wanted to be human. She didn't know what it was like being human, but she  _wanted_  to. It wasn't her fault that she didn't know any better, that she wasn't thinking about the consequences when she desired to be like us humans. So, she let me and my husband die, that way she could take his body for her own."

"Why would…?"

She shook her head. "The gods don't often care about gender, especially this one, because she didn't have a gender in the first place. Anyway, me and my husband died - well he wasn't my husband at that point, but whatever. We died when we weren't supposed to, and this dilemma caused the Underworld a lot of headaches. And so, Thanatos - Death - simply recruited us as Reapers to use the Veil and bring dead souls who are clinging to life or ones that have escaped back to the Underworld. He's short-staffed right now, so he needed all the help he could get. We were already oddballs. Why not kill two birds with one stone?"

"Sounds…important."

She nodded. "We became Reapers, not simply dead souls, but not the gods. You could call us demigods, but we were already before we even became Reapers, so we just took the name that the humans gave people like us - Grimm Reapers."

"So… _I'm_  a Reaper?"

She sighed. "I don't know. You're… _alive_. I don't know how it's possible, but…"

Something about it seemed  _right_. I felt like this Veil was my home, it was so nice here. I recalled my vague memories about my parents arguing to keep me. They had failed, and I had been taken to the mortal world and left all alone. I had gone to the mortal world before, I'm sure of it, but the Veil was the safest and warmest place for me. It was my home.

There was a ripple in the Veil that I sensed. It was so sensitive now that I was here completely, I could fully  _connect_  with it - I was  _one_  with it. Someone was calling for her, this woman.

"Urie, come here! Come and see!" The woman called.

Someone disturbed the Veil as they jumped inside and a white-haired man who resembled Kaze jumped down. Kaze…just the thought of him confused me so much. I wanted to ask him so much, but at the same time, I imagined that if he were right in front of me, I'd never be able to get the words out.

"What is it, Hannah?" The Asian man asked.

His German was very different, translated rather than actually learned.

"Look!" She exclaimed. "Look, he's  _here_ , he's really  _here!_ "

The man kneeled down and stared at me. I still felt out of place, now even more so since there was a  _second_  person gawking at me, but at the same time I didn't try to run or look away. I didn't feel  _afraid_  at all. That was a weird sensation.

The man touched my forehead slowly, brushing my shaggy hair out of my face. It had grown out, but not nearly enough to fully cover my Ward tattoo. Not like Kaze. His had been covered by his hair. I tried to imagine having Kaze's hair so that he could fully conceal my Ward brand.

"You're…Azrael?"

I nodded. "I think so. That's what I've been told."

He squished me in a hug. Why was he so big?! His torso was practically the size of my entire body!

"I'm sorry…"

Why did they keep apologizing?

"I'm sorry we left you. We tried to argue that we could keep you, but Thanatos said he couldn't let us…"

I blinked at what that meant.  _The dark man who had fought to make my parents leave me, the one who_ made _them leave me_.

"You are…"

The man pulled back abruptly. "Oh, sorry. I'm Ithuriel and I'm a son of Ares. Ithuriel is a Christian angel name, don't ask how my parents were Christian and I'm Olympian, it's a  _long_  story. I'm Japanese, yeah, it's weird too. My genes are my complicated genes. But you were named after an angel too. We match!"

"I'm Hannah," The woman said. "I'm a daughter of Hephaestus and a German. I know what it's like to be an orphan, and I'm so sorry you had to go through what you did."

"She was in the circus," Ithuriel popped in. "Her stage name was ' _The Master of All!_ ' Needless to say, I had to pick her up off the market before anyone else did. Personally, I think I chose the best girl in the world."

Hannah flicked him in the forehead and he winced, but she was still smiling as she chided him. "You  _really_ don't have to tell him that."

"What?! It was an important event in his mother's life."

"Yeah, well  _here's_  an important even in his  _father's_  life. The first time we met, he smacked himself in the face with his own lance while trying to be cool."

" _Hey!_  That is a moment we were to  _never_  speak of again."

"But it's  _important_  to let our  _child_  know how his parents met."

Ithuriel rolled his eyes. "Next we should tell him about how he was made. It all started when I got home from work and found your mother covered in grease and sweat from a hard day's work at her repair shop. Now naturally, she looked perfect, and I couldn't help myself-"

She smacked him on the head and knocked his big frame over. "You are  _not_  giving him ' _The talk_ ' right now, Urie."

He sat up and rubbed his head. "Geesh, I was  _kidding_."

She rolled her eyes, but it was clear she was only mean to him out of love. She was mean and acted annoyed because they were so close that they knew that the other wouldn't be offended by that kind of stuff. What a concept.

"Anyway, we really  _do_  need to go before Thanatos pulls us out of the Veil forcefully."

She sighed. "Okay." She kneeled and put her hands on my shoulders. "Azrael, we'll see you later, okay? You'll know it's us if you have control over the Veil."

She kissed me on the forehead, just like Kaze had done. Man, my mind couldn't go two minutes without thinking about him. It was annoying, but I  _liked_  to think about him for some reason. It was the only thought that wasn't dark enough to get me down. He was the first nice person I'd met - besides the nice girl. And now he was gone before I could even say thank you. I needed to say thank you, maybe that was it.

Ithuriel patted me on the back. "We'll see you later, kid. Stay safe."

The two of them faded away, becoming increasingly transparent before they were gone. I looked around at the blurred world and realized that it was moving very quickly. I felt like I was sliding out of the Veil, as though the floor had transformed into a waterslide, and I was fading away. The world began to slow down again and clear up as I returned to reality.

Reality was really cold.

Khione the ice goddess had been stabbed and was destabilizing, but she grabbed onto brown-haired girl's wrist, even though the contact caused a bunch of steam. A miniature blizzard swirled around the two of them as brown-haired girl tried to rip her hand free.

"Piper!"

Water-girl shot a whip of water forward to slice Khione's wrist. Brown-haired girl lurched free, falling into the high winds and freezing temperature, but a horse zipped in and pulled her to safety. Khione screamed as her blizzard increased in power and mixed with the winds escaping from a wind bomb.

The metal dragon head clacked and whirred, the alarm bells ringing. The horse dived towards the deck and shielded brown-haired girl against the railing. Nice girl grabbed the figurehead and held on tight, summoning her fire to protect her. Water-girl chucked the bomb away just as the ice shattered and the winds exploded.

I ran across the deck towards Khione while I was still in the Veil, surging forward and shoving my hand through her chest like I had so many others.

"Die, goddess."

Her soul - if you could even call it that - was already fading, but she was fighting back to put everything she had into this blizzard. She was basically self-destructing, using every part of her existence to fuel this storm. It would destroy the ship, no doubt, maybe even freeze a good deal of the water beneath it. It would be like fallout from a nuclear explosion, no amount of heat would be able to reverse this freeze for centuries to come.

That is, if I hadn't torn out her only source of energy left. Gods didn't have souls, per se, but they did have this little ball of existence in the place of where their soul could be. I could grab it just as easily as I could any other soul, and the people at Ward K had taken full advantage of that. They had threatened many gods into submitting through my power, gotten valuable information as well as power and technology. It was surprising what a god was willing to give if they thought that they would make it out alive. It was surprising that they thought that these humans were going to let them live. They were so foolish sometimes, disconnected from reality, to be sure.

I tore out her…well, let's just call it an Existence - with a capital 'E.' Her body vaporized, the blizzard disappeared, and I crushed her Existence, feeling as it disappeared in a wave of cold.

The Veil disappeared, the winds were calm, and everyone had recovered. The others scrambled about, yelling things, and I noticed that the curly-haired boy was missing. The two Boreads were gone, the metal dragon was glowing with a flaming aura that I'd never seen before, but it almost resembled a soul, and the others were frozen below deck before water-girl melted them free. I wasn't sure what they were panicking about, and honestly, I didn't care. It was only after the nice girl projected her thoughts towards me that I'd realize what had happened.

What had been maybe a five-minute conversation in the Veil had been maybe a ten-minute encounter with the goddess back in the real world.

What had been only a few seconds of holding Khione's Existence in the Veil had been nearly two hours.


	29. Akhlys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else amazed that I managed to finish this chapter? Anyone?
> 
> I've been neglecting this story because I've been so excited with my Shadowhunters story that I made it to the sequel and have a ton of work that I have to get to posting, not to mention I have to finish a chapter for my Hidden Origins story. So much work, so much procrastination.
> 
> BTW Queen of Air and Darkness came out and I'm dying from the fluff because the rest of the story was just "We're in trouble now," then "Oh crap, it just gets worse," and finally "WHYYYY YOU DO DIS TO ME CASSANDRA CLARE?!" before ending with "YES FINALLY HAPPY ENDINGS OF SORTS. STILL UPSET ABOUT THIS ONE THING BUT YES YOU GOT THOSE TWO MARRIED AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS!" (the good people in the audience know what I'm talking about). This is totally the wrong fandom to be mentioning this to, but hey, my Shadowhunters story is still being edited and worked on before I can get out the sequel so why not share it with the next best thing?
> 
> BTW #2: It is very hard to spell Akhlys. I just keep saying 'Achilles' in my head. I have to literally think 'A Kingdom Hearts L Y S' in order to not get the letters confused, which I do 70% of the time. I have to brace myself every time I know I have to spell out Akhlys. Just typing it there I STILL messed up. :P
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter that I barely managed to squeak out!
> 
> :)

First Person: Lu

This was great.

Who knew that a giant's leather bed in a drakon-bone hut in a festering cesspool would sound like Elysium? I quite enjoyed being with Damasen, I wished that we didn't have to leave him behind. Instead, we continued forward, stumbling along in the darkness, the air thick and cold, the ground alternating patches of pointy rocks and pools of muck. The terrain seemed to be designed so that we could never let our guard down. It gave me flashbacks of gym class. Even walking ten feet was exhausting.

The giant's hut had given us a moment to rest and feel strong again, clearing our heads, eating drakon jerky from the packs of provisions. Now, the high had worn off. Our legs were sore, every muscle ached, and despite the makeshift tunic of drakon leather over his shredded T-shirt, Percy was still chilled to the bone. I was warm enough with my Apollo genes keeping me glowing as well as warm like the sun, but it didn't do much to help the others. Even my blessings seemed to be waning. I considered stabbing myself just to get my mother's blessings to help give me some extra juice, but I'd save that for the future. I might need it when we come to the end of this journey.

 _'_ _I feel you creeping, soon you'll be a weeping, ashes, ashes, we all fall down_ ~'

The ground began to shake, but I kicked it hard with the anger of Chaos behind it. Shut up, Tartarus. Ring Around the Rosie was  _not_  something you'd think a Primordial being would be singing, let alone making a parody of, but then again, when you consider where the tune came from in the first place…

I sighed and plucked my drakon-bone violin. This was getting tiring. Back and forth, fight after fight, question after question. I needed something to hit. Right now.

Percy and Annabeth were trudging along, barely, and more often than not did they feel like giving up, plopping down, and dying. It was only because the two of them had each other that they convinced themselves to keep going. They took hands every few minutes as a means of encouragement, and to remind each other that there was still something to fight for here.

Annabeth had been extremely down, trying to hide her tears as she thought about Damasen. Annabeth didn't give into despair easily, but we knew she hated when her plans didn't work out. She was convinced we needed Damasen's help, but the giant had turned us down. He was too lost in his despair, and who could blame him? Being in this place, for so long crushed whatever spirit that Damasen had ever clung to, already shunned by his parents. This was a dark place, and light was just a fantasy that monsters, let along a giant who had been cursed by his powerful parents, could never hope to attain.

Percy was already becoming nervous about Bob for when we reached the doors of death, but having a giant as his wingman wasn't exactly reassuring, even if that giant could cook a mean bowl of stew. Well, I guess they were even now. Percy believed in a Titan, Annabeth believed in a giant. What could  _possibly_  go wrong? This place was making them reconsider friend and foe, this was a place where everyone was friends compared to the foe of Tartarus.

' _I heard my name~_ '

"Shut.  _Up_ ," I hissed.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Nothing. Voices in my head. Just trying to tune them out."

"Think that it's dangerous?" Annabeth asked wearily.

"No. We've lost our pursuers. Best we keep moving."

It was true. We hadn't heard the monsters in ages, but we could sense their hatred…especially Polybotes. The bane of Poseidon was back there, somewhere, following, pushing us deeper into Tartarus.

I tried to think about good things to drown out the darkness, but it was honestly just too depressing for me. Thinking of good things meant thinking about the things that you can never have, or at least the ones that are very far off in the future. It was hard to imagine a future at the moment. We had to make it past this first. It felt as though only Tartarus existed right now. This was the real world - dead, darkness, cold, and pain. All the rest was just imagination.

I shivered. I realized that this place was specifically doing this to me. It was bringing out the darkest thoughts, crushing hope, making the person you were and all their happiness seem like a dream, and that the real you was just empty. I had always felt empty, but now it actually stung. Emptiness was the only way to survive sometimes, that's what I'd learned anyway. But now this emptiness was scary, it wasn't emptiness. It was just darkness. A pit of blackness disguised as nothing. I wondered how Nico had survived down here alone without going insane. Even with Veon popping in sometimes thanks to their soul bond, that kid had more strength than most gave him credit for. The deeper we traveled, the harder it became to stay focused.

"This place is worse than the River Cocytus," Percy muttered.

"Yes," Bob called back happily. "Much worse! It means we are close."

Oh, I guess that made sense now. No wonder it was so depressing right now. We were close to our destination: even more darkness. Yay.

We were also growing closer to the heart of Tartarus, where his hold was greatest, and where he would fight for my body and soul.

Yay.

Percy looked confused at Bob's statement, but he didn't have the strength to ask. He was exhausted, beaten and battered, and now we'd have to face a challenge. This was gonna be  _great_. Small Bob the kitten had hidden himself in Bob's coveralls again, which reinforced the opinion that the kitten was the smartest one in the group. Well, minus the fact that it chose to stay with two demigods that were being hunted as well as a Titan turning against the rest of his kind.

Annabeth laced her fingers through his. In the light of his bronze sword, she almost looked normal. It was more than enough to ease Percy's heart, somewhat. Those two could be so adorable together, but it was kinda depressing for the rest of us who still had a lot of relationship bumps. At least they were  _in_  a proper relationship. Whatever I had with Veon, I wanted to believe that it would work out. We needed time though. Time to actually be real humans, to get to know the real people behind all the Primordials and all the fights and chaos. Ugh, relationships were hard.

"We're together," Annabeth reminded Percy. "We'll get through this."

He smiled, as though a small weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Yeah. Piece of cake."

"But next time, I wanna go somewhere different on a date."

"Paris was nice."

She managed a smile. Months ago, before Percy had got amnesia, they'd had dinner in Paris one night, compliments of Hermes. That seemed like another lifetime.

"I'd settle for New Rome," She offered. "As long as you're there with me."

Percy sighed in relief. Annabeth could remind him what it was like to be happy, even in this place. She could give him hope of a future when they were facing the odds like this. Wise girl was wise.

Then the darkness dispersed with a massive sigh, like the last breath of a dying god. In front of us was a clearing - a barren field of dust and stones. In the center, about twenty yards away, knelt the gruesome figure of a woman, her clothes tattered, her limbs emaciated, her skin leathery green. Her head was bent as she sobbed quietly, and the sound shattered all those hopes that Annabeth had just renewed. Life seemed pointless, our struggles for nothing. This woman cried as if mourning the death of the entire world.

"We're here," Bob announced. "Akhlys can help."

"Let's go," I ordered to Annabeth and Percy, who seemed more than a little disturbed by the affect Akhlys gave off. "Don't back down now."

Bob and I trudged forward, and Percy and Annabeth felt obliged to follow. If nothing ese, this area was less dark - not exactly light, but with more of a soupy white fog.

"Akhlys!" Bob called.

The creature raised her head. Her body was bad enough - she looked like the victim of a famine, limbs like sticks, swollen knees and knobby elbows, rags for clothes, broken fingernails and toenails, dust caked on her skin and piled on her shoulders as if she'd taken a shower at the bottom of an hourglass. Her face was utter desolation - her eyes were sunken and rheumy, pouring out tears, her stringy gray hair was matted to her skull in greasy tufts, and her cheeks were raked and bleeding as if she'd been clawing at herself. Across her knees lay an ancient shield - a battered circle of wood and bronze, pained with the likeness of Akhlys herself holding a shield, so the image seemed to go on forever, smaller and smaller.

"That shield…" Annabeth murmured. "That's  _his_. I thought it was just a story."

"Oh no," The old hag wailed. "The shield of Hercules. He painted me on its surface, so his enemies would see me in their final moments - the goddess of misery." She coughed so hard that it seemed to punch me in the gut. "As if Hercules knew true misery. It's not even a good likeness!"

Well, when we'd encountered Hercules at the Straits of Gibraltar, it hadn't gone well. The exchange had involved a lot of yelling, death threats, and high-velocity pineapples (courtesy of Piper).

"What's his shield doing here?" Percy asked.

The goddess stared at him with her wet milky eyes. Her cheeks dripped blood, making red polka dots on her tattered dress. "He doesn't need it anymore, does he? It came here when his mortal body was burned. A reminder, I suppose, that no shield is sufficient. In the end, misery overtakes all of you. Even Hercules."

Percy inched closer to Annabeth. He tried to remember why we were here, but the sense of despair made it difficult to think. Hearing Akhlys speak, it was no longer strange that she clawed at her own cheeks. The goddess radiated pure pain.

"Bob, we shouldn't have come here," Percy said.

From somewhere inside Bob's uniform, the skeleton kitten mewled in agreement. The Titan shifted and winced as if Small Bob was clawing his armpit. "Akhlys controls the Death Mist," He insisted. "She can hide you."

" _Hide_  them?" Akhlys made a gurgling sound. She was either laughing or choking to death. "Why would I do that?"

"We must reach the Doors of Death," I announced. "To return to the mortal world."

"Impossible!" Akhlys screeched. "The armies of Tartarus will find you. They will kill you."

I narrowed my eyes. "So I guess your Death Mist is pretty useless then."

The goddess bared her broken yellow teeth. " _Useless?_  Who are you?"

"You know who I am, goddess." I held out my hand and the misery within me shifted. It was like controlling a ball of energy inside my chest, moving with just a thought. "I am one who has suffered countless times, who has learned that my misery is everything that is left within me. Misery is my catalyst, so do tell me why I should believe you can do anything for me."

Akhlys squinted to study me further. "I see. Yes, I know you. Tartarus will have his way with you soon enough, my dear."

"I am a daughter of Athena," Annabeth said, stepping forward. Her voice sounded brave somehow. "I didn't walk halfway across Tartarus to be told what's impossible by some minor goddess. Is your Death Mist effective or not?"

The dust quivered at our feet. Fog swirled around us with a sound like agonized wailing.

"Minor goddess?" Akhlys gnarled fingernails dug into Hercules's shield, gouging the metal. "I was old before the Titans were born, you ignorant girl. I was old when Gaea first woke. Misery is  _eternal_. Existence is misery. I was born of the eldest ones - of Chaos and Night! I was-"

"Yes, yes," Annabeth said. "Sadness and misery, blah, blah, blah. But you still don't have enough power to hide three demigods with your Death Mist. Like she said: useless."

Percy cleared his throat. "Uh, Annabeth-"

She flashed him a warning look: ' _Work with me_.' She was terrified, there was no way not to be, but this was our best shot at stirring the goddess into action.

"I mean…Annabeth is right!" Percy volunteered. "Bob brought us all this way because he thought you could help. But I guess you're too busy staring at that shield and crying. I can't blame you. It looks just like you."

Akhlys wailed and glared at the Titan. "Why did you inflict these annoying children on me?"

Bob made a sound somewhere between a rumble and a whimper. "I thought…I thought…"

"Leave the Titan alone," I demanded. "This is between you and us, he was just our escort."

"The Death Mist is not for  _helping!_ " Akhlys shrieked. "It shrouds mortals in misery as their souls pass into the Underworld. It is the very breath of Tartarus, of death, of despair!"

"Awesome," Percy said. "Could we get three orders of that to go?"

Akhlys hissed. "Ask me for a more  _sensible_  gift. I am also the goddess of poisons. I could give you death - thousands of ways to die less painful than the one you have chosen by marching into the heart of the pit."

Around the goddess, flowers bloomed in the dust - dark purple, orange, and red blossoms that smelled sickly sweet.

"Nightshade," Akhlys offered. "Hemlock. Belladonna, henbane, or strychnine. I can dissolve your innards, boil your blood."

"That's very nice of you," Percy said. "But I've had enough poison for one trip. Now, can you hide us in your Death Mist, or not?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun," Annabeth said.

The goddess's eyes narrowed. " _Fun?_ "

"Sure!" I jumped in. "Just think, Akhlys, if we fail, think how great it will be for you, gloating over our spirits when we die in agony. You'll get to say ' _I told you so_ ' for eternity. And if we succeed, think of all the suffering you'll bring to the monsters down here. We intend to seal the Doors of Death. That's going to cause a  _lot_  of wailing and moaning, pure misery for all of the monsters trapped down here. And think of the destruction and agony when I sick Chaos on the lot. Oh, Tartarus himself will wail in torment for all the trouble he's caused me."

Akhlys considered. "I enjoy suffering. Wailing is also good."

"Then it's settled," Percy said. "Make us invisible."

Akhlys struggled to her feet, the shield of Hercules rolling away and wobbling to a stop in a patch of poison flowers. "It is not so simple. The Death Mist comes at the moment you are closest to your end. Your eyes will be clouded only then. The world will fade."

Percy swallowed, but kept on a cool façade. "Okay, but…we'll be shrouded from the monsters?"

"Oh, yes. If you survive the process, you will be able to pass unnoticed among the armies of Tartarus. It is hopeless, of course, but if you are determined, then come. I will show you the way."

"The way to where, exactly?" Annabeth asked.

The goddess was already shuffling into the gloom.

"Our doom, of course," I answered.

Percy turned to look at Bob, but the Titan was gone. How does a ten-foot-tall silver dude with a very loud kitten disappear? Death Mist, I guess.

"Hey!" Percy called to Akhlys. "Where our friend?!"

"He cannot take this path," The goddess called back. "He is not mortal. Come, little fools, child of the Chaos. Come experience the Death Mist."

Annabeth exhaled and grabbed Percy's hand. "Well…how bad can it be?"

The question was so ridiculous we laughed, even though it hurt our lungs.

"Oh, it'll be  _just_  peachy," I muttered, stomping forward to trudge after the goddess.

"Next date though - dinner in New Rome," Percy declared.

We followed the goddess's dusty foot prints though the poison flowers, deeper into the fog.

* * *

First Person: Zytaveon

So, I passed out. Fun.

Let's talk about Chuck.

He's got a lot of mood swings. One second, he's being passive-aggressive, the next he's just being aggressive, and then he just collapses from depression and is too tired to speak to me.

"Tartarus just kicked me out.  _Kicked me out_. That's like interrupting someone when they're playing a game show to say that they have a doctor's appointment, so they can't participate even though they're on the verge of winning. Or just on a game show in general, the winning part isn't really guaranteed. Sometimes I just wanna punch my son in his existence itself. I don't understand why he and my daughter wanna destroy the world. I mean, what's the point?! What's the point of it  _all?!_ "

I blinked. "So…"

"Why the hell did this happen to  _me?!_ " Chuck snapped. "All I wanted was a nice and peaceful existence, but then I had to get  _bored_  and started creating life forms that are falling apart! They're always  _whining_  and  _complaining_  and  _fighting_  and  _breaking things_  - what kind of children are they?!"

"What am I doing here again?"

Chuck sighed and leaned back in his seat. "Who the flip  _cares?_ "

We were sitting in a living room of a mansion that was completely white. Along the edges, the world faded to a complete void of emptiness. Chuck had woken me up only to start on a rant…and he never stopped. He hadn't answered any of my questions properly. I was growing concerned.

Chuck flopped onto the couch, one of his legs dangling over the armrest. "I want Chaos back. She always provides the boredom so that  _I_  have something to  _do_. It's like I'm wandering around in the dark without her, and that's saying something."

"The string and the kite."

Finally, Chuck seemed to notice my presence. "Hm?"

"I once heard that a couple referred to themselves as the string and a kite. Without the string, the kite would just…float away, lost in the sky, never able to ground itself. And without the kite, the string would fall to the ground, limp and useless. But  _together_ …"

"They create something truly beautiful." Chuck sighed. "Yeah, I know. Between earth and sky, through wind and storm, fire and ice, water and…"

There was a long pause as Chuck stared at the ceiling with a thoughtful look on his face. He slowly sat up on the couch, and even I could see the gears turning in his head.

"What's up?" I dared to ask.

"Chaos and I…we  _have_  to be connected by that string. She grounds me, I keep her spirits up when all is nothingness. But if we were truly separated, we  _wouldn't_  be able to exist on our own. You puny humans, even you chosen ones, wouldn't be able to sustain the weight of the universe's existence itself - don't get me wrong, your evilness is always appreciated, I  _love_  the darkness of your soul - but what if it's not enough? No, we  _must_  still be connected in some way. We're weakened, but maybe that's because we're now relying on ourselves. I  _hate_  being all depressing and… _sad_  and  _unhappy_  - everything that Chaos is. She's a  _very_  depressing person. But when Chaos and I were separated, maybe we weren't  _really_  separated. The two of us must've just been pulled apart. We're more…different than we normally should be, but that doesn't mean we can't fix this."

"So what does that mean?"

"Maybe we only need  _one_  of you. Maybe that's what that girl wanted from the beginning, maybe that's what she was always capable of. Or maybe it was you."

"What are you going on about? Explain to the pleb here in laymen's terms."

"I can  _be_  part Chaos, I  _am_  part Chaos. Maybe we never needed a second person. Maybe we only need one. The perfect host. One of both light and darkness, who's been destroyed and rebuilt - who has survived the darkness as well as the light. But is that you, or is it her? She's got the darkness, but she's learning about the light. You've got the light, but you're just now learning about your darkness."

He jumped up and squealed with delight.

"Oh, this is going to be just  _swell!_  We'll have to see which one of you survives! It's time to  _destroy_  you, boy! And once you're ready, you'll get to see if you or Rei Chikara is superior!"

"Wait a minute, I don't wanna-"

"Too late! You've been born for this! Let's break you, Zytaveon!"

"Hey, hey, hold on! Why do  _I_  have to be  _broken?!_ "

"Well that's what Rei went through. We had to crush her spirit in a million ways, and only if she came out of that with her wits would she be able to properly host me. See?"

He snapped, and the world shifted. I was suddenly in a large workshop, watching an explosion take place. I looked around and saw a younger version of Lu, looking ragged from no doubt  _years_  of survival without regular civilization. She had her hair pulled up out of her face, wearing a large amount of equipment, and she was searching around for some ingredients while under fire. On the other end of the workshop was Kaze, grabbing equipment and crafting whatever he could as quickly as possible. He chucked inventions that mostly exploded, in general, and forced Lu to take cover.

" _Make him into Chaos. This will save him. Give him power, my dear. No matter what it takes, we must find a host. He will be perfect, you will be together forever._ "

She took a brew that she had mixed up and checked it at Kaze, releasing a poison fog.

" _Give him everything you've got, show him the trials, and your brother will be with you forever._ "

"But Kaze didn't survive. He was a special boy, to be sure, but it wasn't his time yet," Chuck said. "It was the destruction of all she held dear that pushed her over the edge, and it's the only thing that kept her sane with me inside her."

"You lied to her," I accused.

"Her brother was with her forever. In her memories. And he would be back, I knew that he had bigger things in his future."

"Like failing the one he loves, seeing them  _die_?"

"Is that what Cupid said? Ugh, that god can be so annoying sometimes. Eros is a powerful guy, but a dangerous one. What will one do for love, really? In any case, Kaze will face hardships like the rest of you. The five of you have potential beyond anything you can imagine, but it comes at a cost. There are consequences to everything, and what is to come in your future is really anyone's guess. You shouldn't be wondering whether Kaze's love dies or not but  _how_  they die. And what happens afterwards."

I mean, assuming that this was Azrael that we were talking about, Chuck had to have a point…if Azrael could tear out souls, what  _other_  connections to death did he have?

"In any case, it doesn't matter much now. I need to figure out a new way to break you. Meanwhile your girlfriend has to figure out how to work the magic of Chaos, and even  _I_  have no idea how to understand that cosmic being, honestly. She's all like ' _Whaaah, darkness, dreary, sadness, bleeech._ ' How can she  _stand_  it? Ugh. I was forced to change in order to survive when Chaos was gone. Being all serious is  _so_  lame."

"Uh…so what's the plan again?"

"I just need to find a way to connect myself with Chaos, even from this distance. Whatever Tartarus did, he can't change the fact that the two of us are one. We originated from the same nothingness, we  _are_  the same nothingness. We can connect to each other and be one. But first, we need to figure out how. We need to figure out which of the two of you are the real chosen one that can host the full power of both Order and Chaos together. Oh! This will be so much fun!"

Chuck snapped, and I suddenly woke up on the ship, freezing cold.

"W-W-W-What…the…H-H-Hades?!" I demanded.

Nico, wrapping his aviator jacket around himself tightly, looked just as unhappy about the temperature. "Ice goddess. Stalling. Audrey. Magic horse. Azrael. It's cold."

The ship suddenly lurched, as though tipped by an extremely strong wind, and Nico lost his footing and fell against the wall. I rolled out of bed from the force and hit the floor, ending up at Nico's feet.

"What was that?" Nico demanded.

"Only one way to find out."

I pulled myself up to my feet and made my way to the door, but as I pulled on it, it was frozen in place.

"It's solid ice out there," Nico said. "We can't get through without Audrey or that horse."

"Ariel."

"Whatever. We're still trapped."

"There's gotta be  _something_ …"

"Just let it be, Ve. They'll figure something out."

I sighed and sat on the bed. The sheets were cold, but they didn't appear to be frozen. The spot where I had been laying actually seemed very warm.

"You were burning up," Nico explained, reading my thoughts. "Literally steaming. Your skin was getting burnt."

I looked at my hand and noticed he was right. There were faint traces of burns that I probably hadn't noticed because of the cool air around me being a bigger concern.

"Must've been Chuck."

Nico moved to sit next to me, staring forward at the floor. "You wanna talk about it?"

I shrugged. "I'd love to, if I even knew everything about it myself. Something about choosing the best host out of the two of us. The one who's suffered the most for Chuck. I assume that it's the opposite for Chaos - or whatever we should call her."

"So whoever has found happiness beyond compare?" He scoffed. "Sounds like an impossible challenge for a demigod."

"I dunno. As far as I can gather,  _I_  wasn't supposed to be the one who made it past the suffering trial. I almost did. I almost lost myself in the destruction. Even Chuck was surprised. I've always considered myself a part of the darkness, but I'm not even close, am I?" I looked at my hands, thinking about all the things that I could've done in those trials if Tartarus hadn't stopped me. Who knew that  _Tartarus_  would ever be my savior in that instance? "There are  _much_  darker places than where I am."

"There's  _always_  a darkness blacker than your own. I was overconfident in my power over the Underworld and look where that got me. Dying in a bronze jar, kept like some trophy."

"We got you out. You'll learn from your mistake. Things'll get better for you - for  _all_  of us. We have to believe that."

"Whatever. I'm not changing my mind. I'm leaving once this journey is over, once I've kept my promise."

"Nico…"

"Nothing you say or do will convince me otherwise."

I leaned back and flopped on the bed. "Whatever. But you know, you need to face your problems  _sometime_. Chuck told me, back in Croatia, that the only way you're going to ever be happy is to tell the world what you  _want_. Do you  _want_  to be happy but think you don't deserve it? Do you want to find someone to love, do you want  _friends_ , a  _family_ , a  _home?_  You need to be willing to fight for what you want, the  _future_  you want. Run away if you think that'll help, but it's not gonna make anything better, I promise you."

Nico said nothing, instead leaning back and flopping on the bed beside me, staring blankly at the ceiling. I could tell, he wanted to protest, ' _I'm not running away_ ,' but he had known that I wouldn't accept that answer. It was nice when you had things like this all worked out without words needed.

The ship lurched slightly and then came to a stop, before the doorknob rattled and we sat up just in time to see Audrey peeking her head in. "Hey. We've…uh, come to a stop. Bad news? We've been pushed half way across the Mediterranean from a wind bomb, Azrael is frozen - not the cold kind of frozen but just completely frozen in place frozen - the ship's a wreck and we don't have Leo for repairs, and I'm going psychotic with tons of hostile ghosts. So, you got anything else to add on, or can we start panicking?"

* * *

I had my Kako assist in the repairing of the ship, but it was taking a while. Meanwhile we were hold up at the palace of the South Wind. It was Jason's idea to get their help, even if I was hesitant to trust  _any_  deity involved with the wind. First the North Wind, then Aeolus, then the West Wind, and now all we needed was the East Wind to come and bother us/aid us and we'd cover all the cardinal directions.

Jason was waiting to go into the palace, and surprisingly the storm spirits were very welcoming of their guests. Wherever the wind blows though - they could shift their attitude at any time.

"You think storm spirits get bored being the wind?" I asked.

Emily was standing beside me on deck, overseeing the repairs of the ship. With Leo gone, we could only do certain repairs that required no real technical thought that was above us. My Kako were good at making the basic repairs to the ship, and the storm spirits were helping for now, at least.

"I mean, they're all just wind," She said. "Does the wind get bored? Do the  _gods_  of the wind get bored?"

I shrugged. "Hey, Em?"

"Hm?"

"I've been thinking about something…"

"Yes?"

"You were always there each time that we switched from Order to Chaos. Meaning you're the link between the two. What if you can connect them when they're strong enough to join together into one?"

She tilted her head in thought. "Well I've thought about that too, but it strains me a lot to connect them. I mean, they  _are_  the most ancient of Primordials."

"Maybe you don't need to connect them completely, just a tiny piece of each of them. If Chaos and Order are really one creation, just split specifically to keep balance, that means that they  _can_  mix, and we might be the key to doing so. Put them together and-"

"And we might stand a chance in this war. Fighting Tartarus, Gaea, the giants."

"The thing that I've learned about the Primordials is that they're the boarder between gods and mortals. They have power, but no personality, no room to expand. That's where we come in as their hosts. If not for us, they probably wouldn't care about what happens to the world, about this war, about our friends and families. We need to work together in this fight, but first we need to fix this mess that the two of them have been put into."

"You have a message that you want to get to Lu and Chaos? A plan."

I nodded. "Of sorts."

"Okay then. Let's get to work."

* * *

First Person: Lu

" ** _We're getting closer to me,_** " Zyanya - Chaos Zyanya, not Order Zyanya - said in my head.

" ** _Is that good news?_** " I asked.

" ** _We also approach my son and the most dangerous of my creations. Misery is what Order and I make when we attempt to work together - a depressing mass of powerful sorrow, wrapped up in a ball of insanity and endless pain._** "

" ** _Can you speak to Akhlys? Make sure she gives us what we want?_** "

" ** _Give to Akhlys the curses of misery itself. All she has harmed and destroyed, all poisons and destruction can be released upon her at once._** "

" ** _She's not immune to her own poison?_** "

" ** _She's not immune to misery herself. She_** **is** ** _misery. She feeds on it. Therefore she has no immunity - why would she wish to block out the one thing that she loves most? In turn, she was never built to resist her poisons, the pain and darkness. It's never been a problem for her before, but it_** **can** ** _hurt her._** "

" ** _Good to know._** "

I grabbed the Tonberry lantern that Veon had left for me. The arai inside swirled around, contained, and controlled by the flame. For all the pain one has caused, this lantern can now return it in full, possibly even more so. What I might be able to do with this…

"I miss Bob," Percy muttered quietly.

I'll admit that I'd gotten used to having the Titan on our side, lighting the way with his silver hair and his fearsome war broom. Now I was the only light was me and our only guide was an emaciated corpse lady with serious self-esteem issues. As we struggled across the dusty plain, the fog became so think that we had to resist the urge to swat it away with our hands. The only reason we were able to keep track of Akhlys's path was because poisonous plants sprang up wherever she walked.

If we were still on the body of Tartarus, we must've been on the bottom of his foot - a rough, calloused expanse where only the most distinguished plant life grew. Finally, we arrived at the big toe, at least, that's what it looked like. The fog dissipated, and we found ourselves on a peninsula that jutted out over a pitch-black void.

"Here we are," Akhlys announced, turning to leer at us.

Blood from her cheeks dripped on her dress. Her sickly eyes looked moist and swollen but somehow excited. Can Misery look excited?

"Uh…great," Percy said. "Where is  _here?_ "

" _The verge of final death,_ " Zyanya said, appearing at the edge, looking down. " _Where Night meets the void below Tartarus._ "

"Very good, vile one," Akhlys said.

Wait, I guess Zyanya must've said that through my mouth. Maybe she was getting stronger now that we were at her source.

Annabeth inched forward and peered over the cliff, next to Order even if she couldn't see her. "I thought there was nothing below Tartarus."

"Oh, certainly there is…" Akhlys coughed. "Even Tartarus had to rise from somewhere. This is the edge of the earliest darkness, which was my mother. Below lies the realm of Chaos, my father. Here, you are closer to true nothingness than any mortal has ever been. Can you not feel it?"

The void seemed to be pulling at the two of them, leaching the breath from their lungs and the oxygen from their blood. Annabeth's lips were tinged blue, their lives disappearing into the death and emptiness of Chaos. I wanted to say that I was sharing their pain, but in all honesty, I was feeling stronger. I felt my strength returning to me, cuts and bruises from the trip here mending and my muscles no longer aching. My stomach felt full like I'd just eaten a decent meal, my thirst quenched like I'd taken a big drink of water and had more to spare.

" _This is my home. This is where I am prisoner in my own realm. The winds of despair, the calming cool of nothingness. Can you not see why it pleases me so?_ "

Zyanya's words were louder than ever. They weren't just in my head, they were in my bones, my muscles, my skin - every cell of my body. I suddenly started to understand what it was like, to be one with a Primordial as ancient as Chaos. It was overwhelming, seeing everything that had ever made up the world in one place, the source of it all.

I walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down. It was nice here, calming. It was a place where the worries of living were far away. I knew what Zyanya - Chaos, anyway - meant when she said that she just wanted rest. This world was chaotic and always changing, always threatening, always improving. There were times when the beings that made up everything just needed a break. Chaos wanted a break.

"You weren't trapped," I realized.

I had imagined that when Chaos had been defeated and captured by Tartarus that Tartarus was somehow confining Chaos, pushing her essence down beneath the surface. But that wasn't how it was. That's how  _Order_  had thought that it was. Order had jumped to the conclusion that Chaos wanted to be freed, that she wasn't here of her own volition, that she was fighting back. Order had thought that this was a takeover. And it was. Gaea thought it, even Tartarus himself thinks it now. They think that they're taking over Chaos and Order's places. But they're wrong, they're all wrong.

" _I am here because I am tired. I woke the earth, woke my son, planted the idea that they were to rise up once more. I set in motion a story so that my Order would be entertained, meanwhile I retreated to peaceful slumber. While the earth stirred from sleep, all I desired was to rest._ "

"You started it all. This entire uprising. It started with the Titans, when that didn't work, the giants, and when that didn't work, you woke your children and started all of this. The waking of the earth and its evil intent, the dark fury of Tartarus unleashed upon us. The chaining of the Doors of Death. That was  _you_."

" _I am Chaos, my dear. What did you expect? I am the source of all misfortune and pain. The existence of negativity and evil itself began with me. I_ am _everything bad that ever happened and everything bad that ever will._ "

"But  _why?_  Why couldn't you just ask for  _help_ …?"

" _Who can help me? Who can truly understand what it means to be pain itself? To be the source of all darkness that has ever flowed through the land?_ "

"What about Order?"

I could hear her mentally scoff. " _Order? Order is everything I am not. He is physically incapable of feeling what I feel, that's the whole point._ "

"But he can balance you out. I saw what it was like within Order's mind - or essence, or whatever. All… _they_ , I guess - all they wanted was to get you back. They  _hated_  being without you, changing into someone that they weren't. You complete them, and when you were gone, when they had to start filling your shoes as well as their own…it was too much. There's a reason you split in the first place, the reason that there's not just  _one_  of you. We  _need_  you, Chaos,  _Order_  needs you. If you need help, just ask for it."

" _You can't help me, my dear. But you ease the pain just slightly. The darkness within your heart is greater than ever. Your mother was empty before she came to me. That emptiness made her a valuable asset, but now she has changed. I was hoping for Zytaveon, a very unique soul indeed. He is a blank slate, who can lean to the light or the darkness. You are far from such, and yet at the same time you are in another neutral zone. Opposite but very alike. What interesting specimen you are._ "

"We can't stay here," Percy announced.

"No, indeed!" Akhlys agreed. "Don't you feel the Death Mist? Even now, you pass between. Look!"

White smoke gathered around the pair's feet. As it coiled up their legs, I realized that the smoke was coming  _from_  the two of them, not surrounding them. Their bodies were dissolving. Their bodies were now fuzzy and distinct, but if I blinked and allowed the Death Mist to hide the from my sight, they looked very corpse-ified. Sallow skin, dark and sunken eye sockets, hair dried into a skein of cobwebs. They looked like they'd been stuck in a cool, dark mausoleum for decades, slowly withering into a desiccated husk. With a little training on seeing through Mist in general, they just looked like blurred…well, Mist.

It was always scary to think about the two of them dying, but when you were a demigod, that went with the territory. Most half-bloods didn't live long, you always knew that the next monster you fought could be your last. But the two were very distraught at seeing each other this way. I think they were wanting to go back for a dip in the River Phlegethon or get attacked by the arai or trampled by giants, anything was better than thinking that they would lose each other like this.

They tried to move, but their bodies felt insubstantial, like they were made of helium and cotton candy.

"I've looked better," Percy decided. "I can't move very well, but I'm all right."

Akhlys chuckled. "Oh, you're definitely  _not_  all right."

Percy frowned. "But we'll pass unseen now? We can get to the Doors of Death?"

"Well, perhaps you could. If you lived that long, which you won't."

Akhlys spread her gnarled fingers. More plants bloomed along the edge of the pit at my feet - hemlock, nightshade, and oleander spreading like a deadly carpet.

"The Death Mist is not simply a disguise, you see. It is a state of being. I could not bring you this gift unless death followed - true death."

"It's a trap," Annabeth concluded.

The goddess cackled. "Didn't you  _expect_  me to betray you?"

"Yes," Percy and Annabeth said together.

"Well, then, it was hardly a trap! More of an inevitability. Misery is inevitable. Pain is-"

"Yeah, yeah," Percy growled. "Let's get to the fighting."

He drew Riptide, but the blade was made of smoke. When he slashed at Akhlys, the sword just floated across her like a gentle breeze.

The goddess's ruined mouth split into a grin. "Did I forget to mention? You are only mist now - a shadow before death. Perhaps if you had time, you could learn to control your new form. But you do  _not_  have time. Since you cannot touch me, I fear any fight with Misery will be quite one-sided."

Her fingernails grew into talons, her jaw unhinged, and her yellow teeth elongated into fangs.

Akhlys lunged at Percy, and for a split second he thought, " ** _Well, hey, I'm just smoke. She can't touch me, right?_** "

I imagined the Fates up in Olympus, laughing at his wishful thinking: " _LOL NOOB!_ "

The goddess's claws raked across his chest and stung like boiling water. Percy stumbled backwards, but he wasn't used to being smoky. His legs moved too slowly, and his arms felt like tissue paper. In desperation, he threw his backpack at her, thinking maybe it would turn solid when it left his hand, but no such luck. It fell with a soft thud.

Akhlys snarled, crouching to spring. She would have bitten Percy's face off if Annabeth hadn't charged and screamed, "HEY!" right in the goddess's ear.

Akhlys flinched, turning towards the sound. She lashed out at Annabeth, but Annabeth was better at moving than Percy. Maybe she wasn't feeling as smoky, or maybe she'd just had more combat training. She'd been at Camp Half-Blood since she was seven, so she'd probably gotten classes we had never got, like How to Fight While Partially Made of Smoke. With Annabeth being as smart and adaptable as she was - along with a girl, since let's be honest, girls are more agile and flexible - she had a clear advantage over Percy.

Annabeth dove straight between the goddess's legs and somersaulted to her feet. Akhlys turned and attacked, but Annabeth dodged again, like a matador. Percy was so stunned that he just stood there watching for a few seconds. These were seconds that Annabeth was stalling for. I grabbed my bow and nocked an arrow, sending it straight at Akhlys as Annabeth dived out of the way, and it exploded in her face to become a cloud of smoke.

"Fool! No matter your power, the Death Mist is still mine to control! You cannot hit me if I don't want you to!"

"Fine, then how about  _this?!_ "

I charged up as Annabeth scrambled out of the way and whacked Akhlys as hard as I could with my bow. The cursed weapon had the ability to change fate - aka make things do what  _I_  want them to no matter how they're supposed to work. Akhlys staggered back from the blow, the bow making a solid hit to her cheek despite her being surrounded in the Mist. As if she needed to look any worse, I think I dislocated her jaw. Or maybe I just broke a bone or two that made up her face.

Either way, it snapped back into place and she seethed.

"Hey, Happy!" Percy screamed, waving his sword and advancing as fast as he could, despite his body still feeling about as solid as a Kleenex.

Akhlys spun, suddenly forgetting the two of us existed. " _Happy?!_ " She demanded.

"Yeah!" He ducked as she swiped at his head. "You're downright cheerful!"

"She growled in anger and lunged again, but she was off balance. Percy sidestepped and backed away, leading the goddess farther from Annabeth. I aimed for her shoulder blades with my bow and sent her stumbling away. She got to her feet with a growl, but Percy laid on the heat.

"Pleasant! Delightful!"

"Lovely! Calming! Beautiful!" I added, hitting her with my bow every time I could.

The goddess snarled and winced. She blindly stumbled after us, but every compliment seemed to hit her like sand in the face and made her an easy target.

"I will kill you slowly!" She growled, her eyes and nose watering, blood dripping from her cheeks. "I will cut you into pieces as a sacrifice to Night!"

Annabeth struggled to get to her feet. She started rifling through her pack, no doubt looking for something that might help. And so the roles were fulfilled - Percy made himself a target while Annabeth came up with a plan.

"Cuddly!" Percy yelled. "Fuzzy, warm, and huggable!"

"Adorable!" I shouted. Best battle cries ever. "Sweet! Charming! Appealing!"

Akhlys made a growling, choking noise, like a cat having a seizure.

"A slow death!" She screamed. "A death from a thousand poisons!"

All around her, poisonous plants grew and burst like overfilled balloons. Green-and-white sap trickled out, collecting into pools, and began flowing across the ground towards us. The sweet-smelling fumes were dizzying, and I could already see Percy wobbling. Percy needed water to heal himself, but there  _was_  no water in Tartarus. At the very least there might be nice a river that he could control. He'd settle for a bottle of Evian.

"Percy!" Annabeth called. "Uh, hey! Miss Wonderful! Cheerful! Grins! Over here!"

But the goddess was now fixated on the two of us. The poison ichor was flowing all around us now, making the ground steam and the air burn. The two of us ended up on an island of dust not much bigger than a shield. A few yards away, Percy's backpack smoked and dissolved into a puddle of goo. Percy fell to one knee, already overwhelmed by the poison before it had even touched him. The smell of it was filling his lungs and taking over.

"You will feed the eternal darkness," Akhlys said. "You will die in the arms of Night!"

"Stigma…" I muttered.

Percy needed water, he needed something that healed. I was reminded of Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children. The Lifestream.

"Let's see if you're working now, Chaos!"

I stabbed my bow into the poison stream and pushed all my newfound energy into it. The death of this place was doing me good, it was healing me because of my mother. The closer I came to death, the more powerful I became.

But I needed more.

The poison was bubbling, but it was eating anything that I was summoning. Akhlys wasn't immune to her own poison, that's what Chaos had told me. I just needed to…

I dived into the poison.

It was a lot deeper than you might've thought that it'd be - a couple inches at most, but nope. I was able to fully submerge myself, the poison at least a foot or two deep, and I felt everything inside me burning away. It was the worst bath in existence, every poison that had ever been created all mixed together in one deadly combination. My skin, muscle, bones, they all wanted to dissolve, my entire body screamed in agony, but not a moment later I was kicked in the gut with a surge of energy. I had felt it a thousand times before, but there was no real way to get used to it. I felt a part of me leave, the part of me that should've died, and I felt a surge of jealousy that it was free, and I was still here. I got to my feet, the poison rolling off of me no different than water off a duck's back.

"Thanks. I really needed that."

The white-green poison kept pooling, little streams trickling from the plants as the venomous late got wider and wider, deeper and deeper. Percy was now alone on his shrinking island, staring at the poison. Even with my power, I could only do things that were within my skillset. Even if I bent the rules, I wouldn't be able to control poison. But I was a healer - I could extract healing properties from poisonous plants if I so desired. And I now had the power of Chaos, the power to summon.

"Lifestream!"

I slammed my fist down and a stream of pure water gushed from the ground, broke through the poison, and streamed into the air. It almost seemed to burn the poison rather than the other way around.

" _This is the blood of life itself! I made it especially for you, my dear Misery._ "

The Lifestream water rained down and burned the poison plants, causing them to instantly whither and decay. Akhlys herself screeched from the water but stood firm with even more rage than before.

"You can save your little pet project, dear Chaos, but you  _cannot_  save the boy!"

The poison converged on Percy, lifting up and creating a dome that closed in.

"Percy!" Annabeth screamed.

Percy croaked out a laugh. It might've just been that his brain was fried from the poison fumes, but poison was liquid. If it moved like water, it must be partially water. Audrey had been able to control any liquid that she came into contact with once her powers started to develop. She had once only been able to manipulate water, but she'd started to use other liquids as well.

' _It's the same tug as usual with water,_ ' She had explained. ' _It's just a little sideways, you know? Like, imagine salt water versus pure water. It's different, but not bad._ '

He remembered some science lecture about the human body being mostly water. He remembered extracting water from Jason's lungs back in Rome…if he could control  _that_ , then why not other liquids? He could sense liquids, they were like a glowing beacon saying ' _Hey! I bet you could control me if you needed it. Ya know, if you're feeling up to it_.' But it wasn't the same as with water. It was…well, like she described it: sideways. It was like the difference between water and syrup, anything other than water was so much harder, so much more foreign. But that didn't mean he wasn't capable, Audrey was proof of that. She may have been a special case, of course, and Poseidon was the god of the sea, not of every liquid everywhere. Then again, Tartarus had its own rules. Fire was drinkable, the ground was the body of a dark god, the air was acid, and demigods could be turned into smoky corpses.

So why not try? He had nothing left to lose. He glared at the poison flood encroaching from all sides. He concentrated so hard that something inside him cracked - as if a crystal ball had shattered in his stomach.

I held my hand out and tried to pull at the Lifestream water, but I wasn't a water-bender. It seemed to be the one thing that still eluded me to this day. I could summon it from the ground thanks to Chaos, but I couldn't make enough of it to stop the poison from reaching Percy. He was surrounded, the poison was a dome over him and all it had to do now was fall on him. He couldn't breathe, he could barely feel his limbs.

" _I'm sorry, Misery, but he is too important to die to one such as you._ "

The poison stopped, to my surprise. The fumes blew away from him - back towards the goddess. The lake of poison rolled towards her in tiny waves and rivulets. The Lifestream started to move too, the two opposing liquids now working in sync to surround Akhlys, who shrieked in surprise.

"What is this?"

"Poison," Percy said. "That's your specialty, right?"

He stood, his anger growing hotter in his gut. As the flood of venom rolled toward the goddess, the fumes began to make her cough. Her eyes watered even more. Oh, great, more water. I imagined her nose and throat filling with her own tears. Lifestream continued to burst out from the ground like geysers trying to break to the surface. Though it didn't burn like poison, it sizzled and shimmered in a way that had Akhlys cowering and blinded.

Akhlys gagged. "I-"

The tide of venom reached her feet, sizzling like droplets on a hot iron. The Lifestream touched her foot and began to burn as she was purified while the poison was destroying her. Two forces that worked in opposite ways, both after Misery thanks to the Chaos that powered it.

"Percy!" Annabeth called.

She'd retreated to the edge of the cliff, even though the poison wasn't after her. She sounded terrified. It took Percy a moment to realize she was afraid of  _him_.

"Stop…" She pleaded, her voice hoarse.

He didn't want to stop. He wanted to choke this goddess. He wanted to watch her drown in her own poison. He wanted to see just how much misery Misery could take.

I walked over to Percy, summoning a small pool of Lifestream to emerge at his feet, crawling up his body and sizzling as it healed his wounds. The Death Mist remained, but the Lifestream cleansed what it had to. "Percy, it's the darkness of this place that's warping your thoughts. Let yourself be healed."

I pointed over to Annabeth and more Lifestream pooled beneath her. She looked at herself in confusion, seeing past the Death Mist on herself and feeling rejuvenated. Annabeth's face was still pale and corpse-like, but her eyes were the same as always. The anguish in them made Percy's anger fade. He started to think straight again, revitalized once more for the hardest part of his journey yet to come.

He turned to the goddess, willing the poison to recede, creating a small path of retreat along the edge of the cliff. "Leave!" He bellowed.

For an emaciated ghoul, Akhlys could run pretty fast when she wanted to. She scrambled along the path, fell on her face, and got up again, wailing as she sped into the dark. As soon as she was gone, the pools of poison evaporated. The plants withered to dust and blew away. Annabeth stumbled towards Percy, looking like a corpse wreathed in smoke, but solid enough when she gripped his arms.

"Percy, please don't ever…" Her voice broke in a sob. "Some things aren't meant to be controlled. Please."

His whole body tingled with power, but the anger was subsiding. The broken glass inside of him was beginning to smooth at the edges. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."

The two began to speak in hushed tones.

The Lifestream began to gather around me until I was standing in a pool of it. I sat down without really thinking about what I was doing. The water was warm, it hardly felt like I was sitting in water at all.

"You're tired, are you?" I asked the water.

My reflection in the water moved on its own, speaking for Zyanya. " _Very tired. I want rest, my dear. Can I really not be granted such?_ "

"I've always wanted peace too. I understand. But perhaps peace isn't what you think it is. I've tried doing nothing before. I've tried to relax and simple stare at the sky. Sometimes it works, but it only works because my mind is still moving, even if my body is not. You'll long for this world that you've created. You need to take a break sometimes, and I don't think you've really taken the chance to do that. But this isn't the break you need, this can't be the end."

" ** _You lied to me._** "

An image of Veon appeared next to my own reflection. I didn't realize how much I missed the sight of him until now. I just wanted to feel his real presence again. I was tired of this too, of being alone and confused and unsure of myself and my feelings and my future. Whenever I looked at him, I felt a sense of normalcy again. A normalcy that I could tolerate, a normalcy that I wanted desperately. I started to realize that those were Chaos's feelings too. She got tired of the world, she hated how it just kept going  _on_  and  _on_  with no end in sight. But suddenly, with Order by her side, things became better. Not perfect, but  _better_. A weight was lifted from their shoulders, the knot in their chest untied - metaphorically speaking, though maybe literally…? Primordials were a bit hard to describe.

" _Why didn't you_ tell _me?_ " Order demanded. " _If I'd_ known-"

" _What could you do, love? You can never understand me, it's not in your nature. I am built upon the blackest of night, the darkness. You came into being because of an accident - I became curious one day, of what I could do. Then, that curious part of me grew until you were formed. You are me, and I am you, but we are not each other._ "

His face showed how his heart was sinking. " _Chaos…_ "

I wanted to reach out and accept his comfort, but something stopped me. Maybe it was my pride, or maybe it was my fear. But it wasn't  _mine_. This was Chaos, wanting to reach out and accept the help but being stopped by something even  _she_  couldn't understand.

" _This pain I feel, it is all the pain you are incapable of feeling,_ " Chaos continued. " _I wanted to give you everything you needed to rule this world on your own. I just want rest. I wanna go back to those days when there were no days. When it was all just…empty._ "

" _You want to be rid of me then,_ " Order said with a hint of bitterness in his words.

Chaos looked appalled at the notion. "No! _I just…_ "

Order looked up at her in realization. " _You wanted to be rid of_ yourself _. But you can't because so many rely on you. Because_ I _rely on you._ "

" _We are too alike, you and I_ ," She said, looking up from the water to me. " _You understand what this feeling is like. There are many others who have felt a fraction of this pain, but you know it like no one else does and no one else can. You know what it's like to crave death, but a force beyond you prevents you from being granted such._ "

" _While Zytaveon is a blank slate, you are the one who has been marred by a force equal to that of the most ancient of powers,_ " Order agreed. " _You understand Chaos, you balance out Order, and you hold our burdens because we, ourselves, have failed to do so._ "

"So…I can host you both?" I asked.

Chaos shook her head. " _Your destiny has yet to unfold. But perhaps you can yet undo my mistakes. Perhaps you can forgive me. Perhaps…you can find a way to save me._ "

Something grabbed me from behind. Something grabbed Chaos from behind.

" ** _I cannot resist my child's strength. Not as I am._** "

I was pulled by a dark force, an incorporeal form that grabbed with a grip I couldn't get ahold of to fight against. Chaos wouldn't fight Tartarus, the stubborn mule. Not to mention that Tartarus still needed a solid body to use. They had said that Veon was a blank slate, that's why he was so useful, and now I understood why my actions had majorly ruined their plans. I was warped and twisted, I was as stubborn as Chaos and as crazy as Order, powerful as both, unable to die or give in no matter how hard I tried, and I would fight off Tartarus like there was no tomorrow. Veon was meant to be a  _sacrifice_  to Tartarus, not very different from how Order told me that we'd be using Veon for Chaos. He was a blank slate, molded so that he could be both good or evil, and Order had started to bring out his dangerous side by being inside him.

"I  _won't_ …let you…take him!"

I dug my heels into the ground, clawed at the Lifestream water and flung it at the image of Tartarus for all the good that it did. I swatted and slashed at it with the weapons I could reach, before I felt something grip my wrist. Order had grabbed Chaos in the rippling reflection of the water, and I felt something grabbing my own wrist in turn.

" _I will save you,_ " Order declared. " _I can't_ be _you, I can't do this_ alone _. You were right. You are me, I am you, but we are_ not _each other. And we are not each other for a_ reason! _The weight of existence can't be held by one of us alone. I can't take your place and mine too, I can't_ do what you're asking of me! _So be mad at me, sabotage me, be an idiot and don't do anything while I struggle to keep you here! It's not gonna stop me from trying. I learned something_ important _from Zenobia and I only grew more certain with her daughter! We are capable of_ more _than we think, and you should know how just how_ stubborn _I am. When I want something,_ I get it! _So right now,_ I'm _going to win this argument, Chaos!_ "

Order tugged so hard on my/Chaos's wrist that it almost felt like my arm was being dislocated. Somehow, I stayed in one piece, pulled out of the dark mist's embrace and into another's. Before me was the silhouette of a familiar figure, one that nearly made my heart stop when I heard his voice, when I realized that it was him and he was here and I wasn't alone.

Together, two voices that were alike spoke to me and Chaos.

" _You don't have to do this alone. I'm here. I will save you whether you like it or not._ "

And then the world went black.


	30. Welcome to Oh-Gee-Gee-Ah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this while super duper tired because I'm busy as hell and just spitting out words and thoughts at this point, so I'm sorry if the quality of my work is going down. I was honestly so bored with this part of the story. I love Calypso and Leo's relationship, but I like to read it, not transcribe it.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the long chapter, I'm trying to get the next chapters out, I don't give up on stories, it just sometimes takes me a while. :)

First Person: Kaze

Leo Valdez spent more time crashing than he did flying. If there were a rewards card for frequent crashers, he'd be, like, double-platinum level.

He regained consciousness as he was free-falling through the clouds, a hazy memory of Khione taunting him right before he got shot into the sky. He hadn't actually seen her, but he could never forget that snow witch's voice. He had no idea how long he'd been gaining altitude, but at some point, he must have passed out from the cold and the lack of oxygen. Now he was on his way down, heading for his biggest crash ever. The clouds parted around him and he saw the glittering sea far,  _far_  below. No sign of the Argo II, no sign of any coastline, familiar or otherwise, except for one tiny island at the horizon.

Leo couldn't fly. He had a couple of minutes at most before he'd hit the water and go  _ker-splat_. He decided he didn't like that ending to the Epic Ballad of Leo.

He was still clutching the Archimedes sphere, which didn't surprise him. Unconscious or not, he would never let go of his most valuable possession. With a little maneuvering, he managed to pull some duct take from his tool belt and strap the sphere to his chest. That made him look like a low-budget Iron Man, but at least he had both hands free. He started to work, furiously tinkering with the sphere, pulling out anything he thought would help from his magic tool belt: a drop cloth, metal extenders, some string and grommets. Working while falling was almost impossible. The wind roared in his ears; it kept ripping tools, screws, and canvas out of his hands, but finally, he constructed a makeshift frame. He popped a hatch on the sphere, teased out two wires, and connected them to his crossbar.

How long until he hit the water? Maybe a minute?

He turned the sphere's control dial, and it whirred into action. More bronze wires shot from the orb, intuitively sensing what Leo needed; cords laced up the canvas drop cloth, the frame began to expand on its own. Leo pulled out a can of kerosene and a rubber tube and lashed them to the thirsty new engine that the rob was helping his assemble. Finally he made himself a rope halter and shifted so that the X-frame was attached to his back. The sea got closer and closer - a glittering expanse of slap-you-in-the-face death.

He yelled in defiance and punched the sphere's override switch. The engine coughed to life, the makeshift rotor turned, and the canvas blades spun, but much too slowly. Leo's head was pointed straight down at the sea - maybe thirty seconds to impact.

" ** _At least nobody's around,_** " He thought bitterly, " ** _or I'd be a demigod joke forever._** **What was the last thing to go through Leo's mind? The Mediterranean.** "

That was when I entered the scene.

The wind was now my ally. I bent it to my will with ease, transformed myself into the invisible force of the sky, and now I no longer had the same feeling of being on the edge of control. Now, I had no fear, I had no worries, I had no weakness.

My body formed in the sky from the wind, now dressed in a new shimmering white trench coat with light blue accents on the edges, like a lava lamp of sorts that mimicked the sky. My skin was cracked and pale like porcelain, my sclera black and my brown eyes were now shimmering with a dark aura, turning the regular irises into a slightly glowing chocolate brown. I flicked my four runes between my fingers absentmindedly, the magical stones that could predict the future now becoming a distracting technique for my fingers. My mind had become significantly clouded ever since my transformation, and so the rhythmic meditation of letting my subconscious focus on the runes helped me concentrate.

I knew the facts about things: I knew what Mother wanted of me, I knew my name and my past, I knew my friends and my family. I knew I hated the gods, I knew that I'd once deduced that their children weren't responsible for their mistakes - and there were a  _lot_  of mistakes. I remembered that I had a personal vendetta against Zeus for ruining my life, but I also knew that Tsuchi wanted to enlist my help in breaking free of another's control - Mother's. In all honesty, I didn't really have the heart to care much about it, but I decided that I'd go along with her plan.

Today, that included protecting Leo Valdez from dying.

I reached Leo, grabbing onto him and tugging a few things on his Archimedes sphere, before releasing him only a moment later. He had a split second to be confused before the orb suddenly got warm against his chest. The blades turned faster on his makeshift helicopter, the engine coughed, and Leo tilted sideways, slicing through the air.

"YES!" He yelled.

He had successfully created the world's most dangerous personal helicopter. He shot towards the island in the distance, but he was still falling far too fast. The blade shuddered, the canvas screamed, and he wasn't going to have a pretty landing even if it  _was_  over an island rather than the sea. I closed the distance between us once more, the beach only a few hundred yards away, before I tapped the sphere and it turned lava-hot. The helicopter exploded, shooting flames in ever direction. If he hadn't been immune to fire, Leo would have been charcoal. As it was, the midair explosion saved his life. The blast flung Leo sideways while the bulk of his flaming contraption smashed into the shore at full speed with a massive  _KA-BOOM!_

I flipped in the air as the blast threw me away, using the winds to guide my landing easily, and hit the sand of the island with my feet, a small explosion of air swirling out from taking the impact of my hit. I purposefully hadn't worked to cushion my landing with the wind since it was no longer necessary. Where once a landing like that would have broken multiple bones and probably caused a lot of problems with the G-forces depriving my brain of blood, now there was little more than a slight thump before I stood straight again, unaffected. Leo was a short distance away, amazed to be alive, and sitting in a bathtub-sized crater in the sand. A few yards beyond him, a column of thick black smoke roiled into the sky from a much larger crater. The surrounding beach was peppered with smaller pieces of burning wreckage.

The scene might have once made me laugh, the utter destruction around me. Now, I had no real reaction. It was liberating, in a way, but also very boring. I tried to summon a witty reaction from my former self, but with each minute that passed, I began to forget what it was like to be the real me with emotions. I knew  _logically_  what emotions were and what they had felt like, but I couldn't  _feel_  them - I couldn't summon the thoughts or reactions I might have had to my chest. Maybe I should've been scared about it, but I couldn't feel scared either.

"My sphere," Leo said, patting his chest.

The Archimedes sphere had disappeared from his chest, the duct tape and role halter having disintegrated. He struggled to his feet, finding no bones were broken, but he was mostly worried about his sphere. If he'd destroyed his priceless artifact to make a flaming thirty-second helicopter, he was going to track down that stupid snow goddess Khione and smack her with a monkey wrench. Of course, I knew the Archimedes sphere was not so easily destroyed - Archimedes knew that his work was often a destructive one and had planned accordingly.

I walked over to the larger crater - about eight feet deep - and took in the scene. The helicopter blades were still trying to turn, the engine belched smoke, and the rotor croaked like a stepped-on frog, but it was pretty impressive for a rushed job. My mind instantly went to work deducing the high from which it would've fallen, the angle, and the compensation for the disintegration of the harness that had been holding it onto Leo. Within moments, I stuck my hand into the sand and felt the sphere right where I predicted it to be, pulling it free. It was steaming and charred, but still intact, making unhappy clicking noises. I twisted a few bits and pressed a few more things into place before it stopped.

Leo, meanwhile, staggered in my direction, wondering why there weren't any tourists or hotels or boats in sight. The island seemed perfect for a resort, with blue water and soft white sand. Maybe it was uncharted, he figured. Did they still  _have_  uncharted islands in the world? Maybe Khione had blasted him out of the Mediterranean altogether. For all he knew, he was in Bora Bora.

It seemed as though the helicopter had crashed  _onto_  something. The crater was littered with broken wooden furniture, shattered china plates, some half-melted pewter goblets, and burning linen napkins. All signs pointed to some kind of dining area, though why it was on the beach could be debated. Perhaps this island's inhabitant got bored of normal standards and decided there was nothing to lose from setting up a dining hall on the shores of the island. She was sadly proven quite wrong on that front.

"Sphere!" Leo yelled. "Come to Papa!"

I handed it to Leo as he slid down into the sand crater, skidding to the bottom, and snatched up the sphere. He collapsed, sat crossed-legged, and cradled the device in his hands. The bronze surface was searing hot, but Leo didn't care. It was still in one piece, which meant he could use it.

"Thanks for the assist… _Kaze?_ "

Ah, it seems he finally recognized me. "Leo Valdez," I nodded.

"What are you… _how_  are you…I heard you were  _gone_ , captured by Gaea! Of all the messed up places to meet, this was  _not_  what I had in mind, man! You look, uh…"

I realized that Leo had probably never witnessed Kandai or Tsuchi before, so he had only heard the stories of his comrades about our reanimated kind.

"I have changed, yes," I said.

"Well, whatever. I guess you look cool. Thanks for the assist, but uh…do you know where we are?"

"A place of eternal punishment, the curse of isolation and heartbreak."

He gave a blank look and blinked before looking around. "Well that sounds…just  _great!_ "

That was sarcasm. I was sure of it. Surely Leo couldn't be so idiotic as to think my description was anything less than foreboding. Right…?

"Loving isolation and heartbreak."

Yeah, it was definitely sarcasm. Lately it had become harder to tell, so I was proud that I could at least still recognize that.

"I  _should_  be able to use the sphere to make something to get out of here back to the others, maybe with some-"

"What are you  _doing?!_ " A girl's voice interrupted. "You blew up my dining table!"

Immediately, Leo looked panicked as though the mere presence of a woman was enough to know he was in danger. An  _angry_  woman meant a fate worse than Tartarus for the poor lad. Not that I knew what it was like to feel pity for him anymore. The look on his face, however, clearly screamed, without a doubt, ' _Uh-oh_.'

The girl glaring down at us from the edge of the crater wore a sleeveless white Greek-style dress with a gold braided belt. Her hair was long, straight, and golden brown - almost the same cinnamon-toast color as Hazel's, but the similarity to Hazel Levesque ended there. The girl's face was milky pale, with dark, almond-shaped eyes and pouty lips. She looked maybe fifteen, about Leo's age, and sure she was pretty, but with that angry expression on her face, I was reminded of the classic trope of popular girls at school - the ones who made fun of people like Leo, gossiped a lot, thought they were  _so_  superior, and basically did everything they could to make his life miserable.

Leo seemed to dislike her instantly.

"Oh,  _I'm_  sorry!" Leo shouted. "I just fell out of the sky. I constructed a helicopter in midair, burst into flames halfway down, crash-landed, and barely survived. But by all means - let's talk about your dining table!" He snatched up a half-melted goblet. "Who puts a dining table on the beach where innocent demigods can crash into it?! Who  _does_  that?!"

The girl clenched her fists. I was pretty sure she was going to march down the crater and punch Leo in the face (Leo seemed to think it too, since he was instinctively stepped just a  _little_  to the left so that I was between her and him). Instead, she looked up at the sky.

"REALLY?!" She screamed at the empty blue. "You want to make my curse even  _worse?_  Zeus! Hephaestus! Hermes! Have you no shame?!"

"Uh…" Leo was rendered speechless.

"My father has very little shame, you must know," I said, walking forward and climbing my way out of the crater, leaving Leo looking offended that I'd just left him out in the open. "In any case, I doubt they are listening. They are currently trapped with split personalities-"

"Show yourself!" The girl continued to yell at the sky, completely ignoring the two of us. "It's not bad enough I am exiled? It's not bad enough you take away the few  _good_  heroes I'm allowed to meet? You think it's  _funny_  to send me this-" She pointed to Leo. "-this  _charbroiled_  runt of a boy to  _ruin_  my tranquility?! This is  _NOT_  FUNNY! Take him back!"

"Hey, Sunshine," Leo said. "I'm right here, ya know."

She growled like a cornered anima. "Do  _not_  call me Sunshine! Get out of that hole and come with me  _now_ so I can get you off my island!"

"Well, since you asked so  _nicely_ …" Leo muttered in what I concluded was  _definitely_  sarcasm because there was nothing nice in her commanding voice that I could detect.

Leo didn't seem to know what the crazy girl was so worked up about, but he didn't really care. If she could help him leave this island, that was totally fine by him. He clutched his charred sphere and climbed out of the crater, and when he reached the top, the girl was already marching down the shoreline, forcing him to jog to catch up. I took large steps and walked to match their stride.

She gestured in disgust at the burning wreckage. "This was a  _pristine_  beach! Look at it  _now!_ "

"Yeah, my bad," Leo muttered. "I should've crash landed on one of the  _other_  islands. Oh, wait -  _there aren't any!_ "

Well, they seemed to be getting along well.

I jumped at my sudden human sarcasm that bubbled to the surface. Perhaps I was still slightly human after all. I should be relieved, but I could feel relieved, so I simply made a mental note that sarcasm was a good thing.

She snarled and kept walking along the edge of the water. I caught a whiff of cinnamon (I had deduced that woman tended to smell like things they definitely weren't often) with my enhanced senses. Her hair swayed down her back in a mesmerizing way, which Leo was staring at. What about a woman's hair was so appealing? Sure, maybe it was amusing  _sometimes_ , but even as a human I had never found much attraction to it. Long hair was annoying, it got everywhere, it got in the way during fights, it took so much effort to maintain, and I wondered why females even bothered with all these useless tactics at attracting men. Perhaps it was less  _attracting_  them and more trying not to  _repel_  them.

There were no landmasses or ships all the way to the horizon, and I tried calling out to the boat that I could summon thanks to my origins with Hermes. I couldn't feel anything, but maybe that was because Leo hadn't expressed his desire to leave aloud yet. Inland, there were grassy hills dotted with trees, a foot-path winding through a grove of cedars - probably leading to the girl's home where she roasted her enemies so she could eat them at her dining table on the beach.

Black humor, I noted. It invoked no emotion within myself, but I knew it would be effective should I have said it aloud. Another mental note made.

Leo seemed to be in deep thought as well, but unfortunately his slow human mind wasn't able to concentrate like I was and he didn't notice when the girl stopped; he ran right into her.

"Gah!"

She turned and grabbed his arms to keep from falling in the surf. Her hands were strong, as though she worked with them for a living. Daughters of Hephaestus showed a similar trait, but she was definitely no child of Hephaestus. She glared at him, her dark almond eyes only a few inches from his. Her cinnamon smell seemed to be distracting him even further, and were I still human I would've felt like I was witnessing a private moment and would look away. Instead, I stared with a blank face.

The girl pushed him away. "All right. This spot is good. Now tell me you want to leave."

"What?" Leo still looked like his brain was muddle from both her as well as the crash landing.

Humans, they took  _so_  long to recover when it came to great falls or the opposite sex. Honestly.

"Do you want to  _leave?_ " She demanded. "Surely you've got somewhere to go!"

"Uh…yeah. Our friends are in trouble. We need to get back to my ship and-"

"Fine," She snapped. "Just say, ' _I want to leave Ogygia_."

"Uh, okay." Leo looked hurt by her tone, also confused as to why he was hurt by it, but he shook it off. "I want to leave…whatever you said."

"Oh-gee-gee-ah." She pronounced it slowly, syllable by syllable, as if Leo were five years old. "Ogygia."

"I want to leave Oh-gee-gee-ah," Leo repeated.

She exhaled, clearly relieved. "Good. In a moment, a magical raft will appear. It will take you wherever you want to go."

"What about my friend? Does  _he_  have to say it too?"

The girl studied him as though questioning his mental health. "Unless that sphere has a sentient intelligence magically implanted within, no."

"The raft will not come," I announced.

I searched for the raft, one that I knew would need to arrive when conditions were met, but it seems it didn't want to play ball. It wasn't appearing, though I was summoning it with all I had.

"What?" Leo asked. "Why  _not?!_ "

"It won't come."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Thanks for that, bud. By the way, what's with the new look? Does it have something to do with that deal the others said you made?"

I nodded. "I am more powerful than ever before, but I have trouble comprehending emotions now."

"Oh, well  _that_  explains your new attitude. You haven't forgotten about us, right? Bros in the tech department?"

"I know of our former interactions, yes. My memory has not been compromised."

"Great, so you think-?"

"Oh, by  _all_  the Olympians, you are  _mad!_ " The girl declared. "Stop talking to your stupid sphere and just be quiet!"

Leo frowned. "Uh, my Archimedes sphere can do a lot of things, but sadly we have failed to reach the point of  _talking_. It's still in the 'silent treatment' phase of our relationship."

"Then who in Ogygia are you  _talking to?!_ "

Leo frowned even deeper. "Uh…him? You mean you can't see or hear him?"

He pointed to me, and the girl looked my way. With a squint, she summoned a small wind that tried to grab me which I deflected easily.

She scoffed. "Wonderful. And you've brought a freak with you as well. The gods must be out of their right minds."

"Well, yeah, actually. Who  _are_  you, anyway?"

She looked like she was about to answer but stopped herself. "It doesn't matter. You'll be gone soon. You're obviously a mistake."

That was harsh, Leo thought. He'd spent enough time thinking he was a mistake - as a demigod, on this quest, in life in general. He didn't need a random crazy goddess reinforcing the idea. He remembered a Greek legend about a girl on an island…maybe one of his friends had mentioned it? It didn't matter, as long as she let him leave.

"Any moment now…"

The girl stared out at the water. As I predicted, no magical raft appeared.

"It will not come," I announced again.

"How do  _you_  know?" Leo asked.

"I am trying to call it, but it will not come."

"Really?" Now Leo looked intrigued. "You can  _do_  that?"

The girl sighed. " _What_  is your friend prattling on about  _now?_ "

"He says he's trying to call the raft but it's not coming."

Her eyes widened in surprise and she looked in my direction, using her winds to locate me. "You've been sent to help him escape then?"

I nodded. "I am against orders."

"He says he's against orders," Leo relayed. "Wait! That deal you made! Does it have something to do with this new power of yours in return for following orders?"

"Essentially."

Leo sighed. "Well, if you're here  _against_  orders, I suppose you still have your free will, at least. But what about that raft? Any chance it just got stuck in traffic?"

"This is wrong," the girl said, looking up to glare at the sky. "This is  _completely wrong!_ "

"The raft will only come when the conditions are met," I said.

"What conditions?" Leo asked.

The girl scoffed. "That is  _never_  going to happen!"

"So…what?" Leo asked. "Plan B? You got a phone, or-"

"Agh!"

The girl turned and stormed inland. When she got to the footpath, she sprinted into the grove of trees and disappeared.

"Okay," Leo said. "Or you could just run away."

From his tool belt pouches he pulled some rope and a snap hook, then fastened the Archimedes sphere to his belt. He looked out to sea, but still no magic raft. He could stand here and wait, but he was hungry and thirsty, and he was tired. Not to mention he was still banged up pretty bad from his fall. He didn't want to follow the crazy girl (no matter how good she smelled), but he didn't have many other options and he had nowhere else to go. The girl had a dining table, so she probably had food. And she seemed to find Leo's presence annoying.

"Annoying her is a plus," Leo decided. "Let's go, Kaz."

With that we followed her into the hills.

* * *

"Holy Hephaestus," Leo exclaimed.

The path opened into the nicest garden we had ever seen collectively. Not that we had spent a lot of time in gardens, but it was admittedly impressive. On the left was an orchard and a vineyard - peach trees with red-golden fruit that smelled nice in the warm sun, carefully pruned vines bursting with grapes, bowers of flowering jasmine, and a bunch of other plants I could hardly name. I knew much of medicinal herbs and plenty of poisonous plants, but beyond my basic survival training, I had no knowledge of domestic plants that one would grow for their amusement. I had never stayed in one place long enough to have tried growing actual food, therefore I knew little of gardening as well. I guessed that most of the plants were luxury items, not necessarily essential for survival, but based on the number of them, she had been here a while and gotten bored enough to expand beyond basic survival needs. What did a goddess need food for, anyway?

On the right were neat beds of vegetables and herbs, things that I understood a little bit better. They were arranged like spokes around a big sparkling fountain where bronze satyrs spewed water into a central bowl. At the back of the garden, where the footpath ended, a cave opened in the side of a grassy hill. Compared to Bunker Nine back at camp, the entrance was tiny, but it was impressive in its own way. On either side, crystalline rock had been carved into glittering Grecian columns. The tops were fitted with a bronze rod that held silky white curtains.

My nose was assaulted by smells that I assumed were pleasing by human standards - cedar, juniper, jasmine, peaches, and fresh herbs. The aroma from the cave started to catch Leo's attention - like beef stew cooking. I supposed to a hungry person (I no longer knew hunger so I wouldn't know) that fragrance was very enticing. Leo started towards the entrance and I followed with no other goal in mind, but he stopped when he noticed the girl.

She was kneeled in her vegetable garden, her back to Leo. She muttered to herself as she dug furiously with a trowel. Leo approached her from one side so she could see him. He smartly didn't feel like surprising her when she was armed with a sharp gardening implement. She kept cursing in Ancient Greek and stabbing at the dirt. She had flecks of soil all over her arms, her face, and her white dress, but she didn't seem to care. She looked better with a little mud - less like a beauty queen and more like an actual get-your-hands-dirty kind of person.

"I think you've punished that dirt enough," Leo offered.

She scowled at him, her eyes red and watery. "Just go away."

"You're crying," He said, which was almost stupidly obvious (human and their relaying redundant or unimportant information).

Seeing her that way seemed to make Leo loose energy. It was hard to be mad at someone who was crying.

"None of your business," She muttered. "It's a big island. Just…find your own place. Leave me alone." She waved vaguely towards the south. "Go that way, maybe."

"So, no magic raft," Leo prodded. "No other way off the island?"

"Apparently not!"

"What am I supposed to do, then? Sit in the sand dunes until I die?"

I knew what her response would be and had a thought that Leo's social skills needed improvement.

"That  _would_  be fine…" She threw down her trowel and cursed at the sky. "Except I suppose he  _can't_  die here,  _can he?!_  Zeus! This is  _not funny!_ "

"Hold up," Leo said, his head spinning like a crankshaft.

He couldn't quite translate what the girl was saying - like when he heard Spaniards or South Americans speaking Spanish. Yeah, he could understand it, sort of, but it sounded so different, it was almost another language.

"I'm going to need some information here," He continued. "You don't want me in your face, that's cool. I don't want to be here either. But I'm not going to die in a corner. I  _have_  to get off this island. There's  _got_  to be a way. Every problem has a fix."

She laughed bitterly. "You haven't lived very long, if you still believe that."

The way she said it sent a shiver up his back. She looked the same age as him, but he wondered how old she really was.

"You said something about a curse," He prompted.

She flexed her fingers, like she was practicing her throat-strangling technique. "Yes. I cannot leave Ogygia. My father, Atlas, fought against the gods, and I supported him."

"Atlas," Leo repeated. "As in the  _Titan_  Atlas?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Yes, you impossible little-" Whatever she was going to say, she bit back. "I was imprisoned here, where I could cause the Olympians no trouble. About a year ago, after the Second Titan War, the gods vowed to forgive their enemies and offer amnesty. Supposedly Percy made them promise-"

"Percy? Percy  _Jackson?_ "

She squeezed her eyes shut. A tear trickled down her cheek, and I mentally thought that was the  _wrong_ thing to say. Leo had that gift of saying the wrong things - they just escaped his lips whenever they wanted to.

"Percy came here," Leo realized.

She dug her fingers into the soil. "I…I thought I would be released. I dared to hope…but I am still here."

Leo remembered now. The story was supposed to be a secret, but of course that meant it had spread like wildfire across the camp. Percy had told Annabeth. Months later, when Percy had gone missing, Annabeth told Piper. Piper told Jason, and after that the entire ship knew subtly. Percy had talked about visiting this island. He had met a goddess who'd gotten a major crush on him and wanted him to stay, but eventually she let him go.

"You're that lady," Leo said. "The one who was named after Caribbean music."

Her eyes glinted murderously. "Caribbean music."

"Yeah. Reggae?" Leo shook his head. "Merengue? Hold on, I'll get it."

I sighed. "Calypso."

He snapped his fingers. "Calypso! But Percy said you were awesome. He said you were all sweet and helpful, not, um…"

She shot to her feet. "Yes?"

"Uh, nothing," Leo said wisely.

"Would you be  _sweet_  if the gods forgot their promise to let you go? Would you be sweet if they  _laughed_  at you by sending another hero, but a hero who looked like…like  _you?_ "

"Is that a trick question?"

" _Di Immortales!_ "

She turned and marched into her cave.

"Hey!"

Leo ran after and I subsequently walked to follow after. When he got inside, he lost his train of thought. The walls were made from multicolored chunks of crystal. White curtains divided the cave into different rooms with comfy pillows and woven rugs and platters of fresh fruit. He spotted a harp in one corner, a loom in another, and a big cooking pot where the stew was bubbling, filling the cavern with luscious smells. Leo seemed baffled most by the fact that the chores were doing themselves. Towels floated through the air, folding and stacking into neat piles; spoons washed themselves in a copper sink. The scene reminded Leo of the invisible wind spirits that had served him lunch at Camp Jupiter.

Calypso stood at the washbasin, cleaning the dirt off her arms. She scowled at Leo, but she didn't yell at him to leave. She seemed to be running out of energy for her anger. Anger never lasted very long - it was a powerful burst of emotion, but once it was released it came out all at once, like an explosion, and then there was nothing left but sadness.

Leo cleared his throat, figuring that if he was going to get any help from this lady, he needed to be nice. "So…I get why you're angry. You probably never want to see another demigod again. I guess that didn't sit right when, uh…Percy left you-"

"He was only the latest," She growled. "Before him, it was that pirate Drake. And before him, Odysseus. They were all the same! The gods send me the greatest heroes, the ones I cannot help but…"

"You fall in love with them," Leo guessed. "And then they leave you."

Her chin trembled. "This is my curse. I had hoped to be free of it by now, but here I am, still stuck on Ogygia after three thousand years."

"Three thousand," Leo repeated, his mouth feeling tingly like he'd just eaten pop rocks. Even  _I_  was able to predict what he'd say next. "Uh…you look good for three thousand."

"And  _now_ …the worst insult of all. The gods mock me by sending  _you_."

Anger bubbled in Leo's stomach. Yeah, typical. If Jason were here, Calypso would fall all over him. She'd beg him to stay, but he be all noble about returning to his duties, and he'd leave Calypso brokenhearted. That magic raft would  _totally_  arrive for him. But  _Leo?_  He was the annoying guest she couldn't get rid of. She'd never fall for him, because she was totally out of his league - not that he cared. She wasn't his type anyway. She was way too annoying, and beautiful, and - well, it didn't matter.

"Fine," Leo said. "I'll leave you alone. I'll build something myself and get off this stupid island without your help."

She shook her head sadly. "You don't understand, do you? The gods are laughing at both of us. If the raft will not appear, that means they've closed Ogygia. You're stuck here the same as me. You can never leave."

* * *

First Person: Zytaveon

"Veon, are you even  _listening_  to me?"

I snapped awake, realizing that I had been staring off into space. "Sorry, what?"

"I knew it," Audrey sighed. "He got that  _look_  on his face. Bet he hasn't been listening for the entire conversation."

I realized we were sitting in some kind of coffee shop, the four of us circled around a table. The shop was relatively empty, though it had a few other customers that were loud enough to create background noise. I didn't recognize the coffee shop, nor remembered how I got here.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Lu sat forward. "We're being bored to death by my Papa being late."

"I'm sure Kaze and Tsuchi are in on it too," Audrey said. "Your dad has a hard  _enough_  time keeping them under control when they're  _happy_ , let alone when he has to wake them up in the morning."

"Or he's distracted by your other parent," Emily suggested.

"Or both," Audrey admitted.

She pulled out her phone. "Great. I'm calling them now. Hold on a sec."

She clicked a few buttons and put the phone to her ear as she stood and walked away.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"What's happening is I'm going to the bathroom," Audrey said. "This is taking  _far_  too freaking long."

She walked off, leaving me with only Emily. "Uh…can I rely on a straight answer from you?"

"We were just talking about the others being late to the celebration," She shrugged. "Who knew graduating high school would be so hard?"

"Uh, everyone," I replied instantly.

She waved. "Not  _everyone_ , silly. We all did pretty fine - considering the circumstances. I mean, we had to take a year off for that whole 'saving the world' thing, but even so, we got into the thick of it here at Camp Jupiter."

Camp Jupiter? We were in New Rome, then. This was definitely not the actual camp where all the Cohorts were and all the war games took place, etc. And we finished the 'saving the world?' Why couldn't I remember that? Surely, I  _should_.

"How long ago did we…save the world - at this point, I mean?" I asked, trying to sound reminiscent.

"Oh, nearly a year now, actually. Time flies when you're…doing math, I guess."

The doors to the coffee shop opened and a large group poured in. I saw Kandai on his phone, looking de-reanimated, along with Tsuchi beside him who was talking to a white-haired man. Kaze was talking animatedly with Azrael, making large gestures to make up for the fact that neither of them spoke each other's language nor English.

"Yes, yes, I'm here. I can see you now," Kandai was saying into his phone.

"Well it  _took_  you long enough," Lu said, hanging up her phone and rejoining us at the table.

We rearranged the seats and tables so that we were all together. As he was sitting down, the white-haired man cringed and held his forehead like he was having a sudden migraine.

"Urie, you okay?" Kandai asked.

"Can I speak with Zytaveon and Rei for a moment? Thanks."

Without waiting for our approval, he grabbed both of us by the wrist and dragged us away to the bathrooms. We went inside the girl's room - which I was  _thoroughly_  uncomfortable with, and he waved his hand so that the entire room shimmered with a glowing aura.

"What is-?" I began.

"All right, which one of you did it?" He accused, crossing his arms.

"I don't follow," Lu said, and I was relieved I wasn't the only one in the dark here.

"Which one of you just changed the world?"

"I feel it takes a little more than you think it does to change the world," I said.

"We change the world all the time with every action we take," Lu corrected. "We manipulate the molecules in the air, the things we come into contact with, etc. I still don't see what you're asking though, Ithuriel."

Ithuriel sighed. "Which one of you just woke up dazed and confused as to who you were, what you were doing, and where you are?"

I raised my hand. "Well, sort of-"

"Wonderful!" He took Lu by the shoulders. "Rei, I love you darling, but you're not real. Get the hell out."

He shoved her before she had the chance to protest and she vanished with a small squeak. I wanted to ask what that was all about and what was going on, but I wasn't really sure  _how_.

Ithuriel pinched the bridge of his nose with a groan. "I'm getting too old for this…"

"Uh, sorry, sir, but…have we met before?"

"Probably, but here I have to go explaining again. Humans are  _so_  frustrating. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss it when I was trapped in the eternal torture of Chaos. At least then I was alone and relaxed and didn't have to do anything so  _complicated_." He took a deep breath and exhaled deeply. He then stared straight into my eyes a bit awkwardly. "Hello, I'm Erótisi, agender please and thank you, godly parent of Rei, I'm currently trapped within Chaos and now so are you, I officially have emotions and they  _suck_ , you look like a white ball of empty blankness within your soul and I just want to go to sleep again. Rei disappeared from here a while ago, and every time she  _does_ , this land resets and I go back into limbo. This entire world relies on the thoughts and desires of the inhabitants that are real - aka you and me, but since I'm a god I have trouble with this whole 'thoughts and dreams' thing, so for me it's a living nightmare that I can't escape.  _You_ , however, are expected to be able to pass these trials, and no I don't know how to pass the trials so I can't help you on that front. Any questions?"

I blinked, taking a very long moment to process the information, but Erótisi didn't seem deterred.

"Uh…wasn't Lu's mom's name Zenobia?"

He - uh,  _they_  - shrugged. "I was once called that. I took on the host of Zenobia the Butcher. It was amusing. Then I took the host of Ithuriel - the man you see before you. Sadly, I was never allowed to take on hosts, I never  _should_  have. I only made things worse in life, so I feel I deserve to be here. My daughter would disagree, but that is the human in her from her father."

They got a far off look in their eyes that seemed a little more human than they were letting on, but they shook it off a moment later.

"In any case, we must find a way for you to escape. Either Tartarus will pull you out or you pass Chaos's trials."

"What even  _are_  the trials?"

"Oh I have little clue at this point. I've tried  _everything_  to escape, but apparently  _you_  are Chaos's chosen one, the one who's destined to make it out of here. Just remember, everything is fake in this world except me."

"Gee…thanks?"

"My daughter loves you, ya know. She just has a terrible streak of showing it."

To  _that_  casual statement, I was speechless. "I…uh…"

"Don't worry, you don't have to respond. But I should tell you now that breaking her heart may break her entirely. You may be capable of saving her, my dear, but you are also capable of destroying her forever. Remember that when you come to the choice of doing one or the other."

With that, they waved and the aura around the bathroom disappeared. They walked out, without giving me the chance to come up with a response.

* * *

First Person: Kaze

The first few days were the worst.

Well, the worst for Leo. I couldn't even get bored anymore, so I just sat and watched events. Calypso couldn't even see me - probably because of the dark aura that surrounded me. I suppose that meant me, Kandai, and Tsuchi were invisible to the gods, which would make sense if we were Gaea's greatest weapons.

I couldn't tell you what had happened in the process of making me into one of the reanimations. I followed Tsuchi and Kandai a great distance, using my full speed for the first time in ages and managing to keep up with them. I could've been on the other half of the world at that point and I wouldn't have even known it. When we came to a stop, I was standing at an altar and the form of Gaea's sleeping body stood before me. She instructed me to stand atop it, and I did so, holding my breath as I felt a large pain in my chest and my entire world went black. The next thing I knew, I was waking up and it was already done. I was in a new outfit, and I knew that I would've mourned the loss of my red jacket if I had any of my emotions intact still. To my - well, not surprise, but intrigue, I suppose - I found that I still retained memories of my past, I still had full control of my body and my mind. There was no large battle of wills, no struggle to retain my former self and my goals. Mother didn't suspect a thing from me, as though she hadn't even  _considered_  the fact that I may use my newfound abilities to betray her. She just left me under Tsuchi's charge and crumbled to dirt, having other duties to attend to. It was easy to forget, sometimes, that the gods weren't as human as we thought they were. Gaea could play my mother all she wanted, but that didn't mean that she fully understood human emotions. She knew what we were capable of, but she always felt she had the upper hand; the arrogance of the Primordial deities knew no bounds.

Often my mind wandered to Azrael, wondering how the boy was doing. He had been so scared, so confused. I wondered what that felt like, not for the first time. I thought about the image Cupid had showed me, one where all I had seen was a swirling, blurred, mass of darkness and a voice shouting desperately, " _Kaze!_ " I remembered feeling terrified for that person, knowing that he needed my help (and that it was a 'he'), knowing that I was losing someone and I was helpless to do anything about it. I remembered that scared me a lot, the thought brought me a physical pain in my chest. I think I remembered how that feeling  _should_ have felt at the time, but it was slipping away from me, bit by bit. Even so, I made a mental note to go and see him again when I had the chance.

Leo slept outside on a bed of drop cloths under the stars. It got cold at night, or so he told me, even on the beach in the summer, so he built fires with the remains of Calypso's dining table. That seemed to cheer him up a little. During the days, he walked the circumference of the island and found nothing of interest - unless you liked beaches and endless sea in every direction. He tried to send an Iris message in the rainbows that formed in the sea spray, but he had no luck. He didn't have any drachmas for an offering, and apparently the goddess Iris wasn't interested in nuts and bolts. He asked me if I could send a message to the others, but at best I could help him steal things from Calypso under her nose thanks to my speed and I had an inventor's mind like him, but I needed to have a goal in mind if I wanted to make something, and so Leo was forced to actually come up with a plan before anything could be done.

He didn't even dream, which was unusual for him - or for any demigod - so he had no idea what was going on in the outside world. He didn't know if the others had gotten rid of Khione, if they were looking for him or sailing on to Epirus to complete the quest. While the latter was the most logical choice, Leo still wanted to rejoin the crew if and when he escaped this place. In all honesty though, he wasn't even sure what to hope for.

The dream he'd had back on the Argo II finally made sense to him - when the evil sorceress lady had told him to either jump off a cliff into the clouds or descend into a dark tunnel where ghostly voice whispered. That tunnel must have represented the House of Hades, which Leo would never see now. He'd taken the cliff instead - falling through the sky to this stupid island. But in the dream, Leo had been given a choice. In real life, he'd had none. Khione had simply plucked him off his ship and shot him into orbit. Totally unfair - or so he complained to me.

The worst part, he said, was that he was losing track of the days. He woke up one morning and couldn't remember if he'd been on Ogygia for three nights or four.

Calypso wasn't much help. Leo confronted her in the garden, but she just shook her head. "Time is difficult here."

"This morning is the fourth, Leo," I informed him. "And yet on the outside world, it might be different."

"So you're saying I could be here a day and, what, ten years could pass on the outside?"

I shrugged. "Or a decade here could be the equivalent of a day there."

"So either way I'm screwed. For all I know a century's passed in the real world and the war with Gaea's over for better or worse. Or maybe I've been gone for five minutes! My whole life could pass here in the time it takes the others to have breakfast!"

"Time could still work consistently, Leo," I threw out.

"But even just a few days is too much to lose when we have a deadline like this!"

Seeing that nothing I said would make him happy, I sat back and watched. He accused me of being like one of those clocks with the eyes that seemed to follow you around once, so I follow him around rather than just sitting and turning my head. It seemed to be slightly more ideal, but he had to shoo me away and told me to not watch him while he slept because that was creepy. He said a lot of things about me were creepy, but I took no offense. When I explained my situation to him and told him to keep quiet, he did so with a heavy sigh.

"Not like me and the crazy lady chat much," He said.

Calypso took pity on him in some ways. She sent her wind servants to leave bowls of stew and goblets of apple cider at the edge of the garden who told me to give them to Leo. She even sent him a few new sets of clothes - simple, undyed cotton pants and shirts that she must have made on her loom. They fit him so well, Leo wondered how she'd gotten his measurements.

"Maybe she just used her generic pattern for  **SCRAWNY MALE** ," Leo muttered.

Either way, he was still glad to have his new threads, since his old ones were pretty smelly and burned up. Usually Leo could keep his clothes from burning when he caught fire, but it took concentration. Sometimes back at camp, if he wasn't thinking about it, he'd be working on some metal project at the hot forge, look down, and realize his clothes had burned away, except for his magic tool belt and a smoking pair of underwear. Kind of embarrassing.

Despite the gifts, Calypso obviously didn't want to see him. One time he poked his head inside the cave and she freaked out, yelling and throwing pots at his head. He seemed upset that I just stood there watching the event. It was  _his_  fault for walking in on her without warning.

"Yeah, she's  _definitely_  on Team Leo," Leo muttered.

He ended up pitching a more permanent camp near the footpath, where the beach met the hill. That way he was close enough to pick up his meals, but Calypso didn't have to see him and go into a pot-throwing rage. He made himself a lean-to with sticks canvas. He dug a campfire pit. He even managed to build himself a bench and a worktable from some driftwood and dead cedar branches. He spent hours fixing the Archimedes sphere, cleaning it and repairing its circuits. He made himself a compass, but the needle would spin all crazy no matter what he tried. He guessed a GPS would have been useless too. Even I could've told him that. This island was designed to be off the charts, impossible to leave.

He remembered the old bronze astrolabe we'd picked up in Bologna - the one the dwarfs (dwarves) told us Odysseus had made. He had a sneaking suspicion Odysseus had been thinking about this island when he constructed it, but unfortunately it had been left back on the ship with Buford the Wonder Table. Besides, the dwarfs (dwarves) had said the astrolabe didn't work. Something about a missing crystal…

He walked the beach, wondering why Khione had sent him here - assuming his landing here wasn't an accident. Why not just kill him instead? Maybe Khione wanted him to be in limbo forever. Perhaps she knew the gods were too incapacitated to pay attention to Ogygia, and so the island's magic was broken. That could be why Calypso was still stuck here, and why the magic raft wouldn't appear for Leo. Or maybe the magic of this place was working just fine.

"The gods punished Calypso by sending her heroes that she would fall in love with, and only when they  _did_ fall for her would they be able to leave. And they always would, some promising to come back, none ever doing so."

Leo sighed. "As if Calypso would  _ever_  fall for  _me_. She  _wants_  me to leave, and therefore we're stuck in a vicious circle. If that was Khione's plan…wow. Major-league devious."

Then one morning he made a discovery, and things got even more complicated. Or so I was told.

Leo was walking in the hills, following a little brook that ran between two big cedar trees. He liked this area - it was the only place on Ogygia where he couldn't see the sea, so he could pretend he wasn't stuck on an island. In the shade of the trees, he almost felt like he was back at Camp Half-Blood, heading through the woods towards Bunker Nine. He jumped over the creek. Instead of landing on soft earth, his feet hit something much harder.

_CLANG!_

"Metal," I announced.

"Quick! Help me dig it up!"

We dig through the mulch until we saw the glint of bronze. Leo giggled like a crazy person as he excavated the scraps. There was no explanation for why the stuff was here; Hephaestus was always tossing broken parts out of his godly workshop and littering the earth with scrap metal, but what were the chances some of it would hit Ogygia? There were a handful of wires, a few bent gears, a piston that might still work, and several hammered sheets of Celestial bronze - the smallest the size of a drink coaster, the largest the size of a war shield. It wasn't a lot - not compared to Bunker Nine, or even to his supplies aboard the Argo II. But it was more than sand and rocks.

He looked up at the sunlight winking through the cedar branches. "Dad? If you sent this here for me - thanks. If you didn't…well, thanks anyway."

"I highly doubt he was responsible for this boon," I said flatly.

"Shh, just enjoy the moment while it lasts."

"I can't enjoy much of anything now."

"Well then help me get this stuff back to our makeshift camp."

After that, the days seemed to pass more quickly and with a lot more noise. First Leo made himself a forge out of mud bricks, each one baked with his own fiery hands. He found a large rock he could use as an anvil base and he pulled nails from his tool belt until he had enough to melt into a plate for a hammering surface. Once that was done, he began to recast the Celestial bronze scraps. Each day his hammer rang on bronze until his rock anvil broke, or his tongs bent, or he ran out of firewood. Each evening he collapsed, drenched in sweat and covered in soot; but he said he felt great. At least he was working to solve his problem as opposed to sitting around doing nothing.

I helped Leo when he was too tired to go on since I needed no sleep or food. I fixed up his tools so that he had at least three, one he used, two I kept in good shape in reserve. I worked when he passed out, knowing he could go a couple days before he died of exhaustion, thirst, starvation, etc.

The first time Calypso came to check on him, it was to complain about the noise.

"Smoke and fire," She said. "Clanging on metal all day and night. You're scaring away the birds!"

"Oh, no, not the  _birds!_ " Leo grumbled.

"What do you hope to accomplish?"

He glanced up and almost smashed his thumb with his hammer if I hadn't put my hand on top of his and taken the blow instead with my unfeeling hands. He'd been staring at metal and fire so long he'd forgotten how beautiful Calypso was. He seemed very displeased at how beautiful she was. She stood there with the sunlight in her hair, her white skirt fluttering around her legs, a basket of grapes and fresh-baked break tucked under one arm. Leo was no doubt hungry after all the work that we'd been doing, but he worked to ignore the basic survival need.

"I'm  _hoping_  to get off this island," Leo said. "That  _is_  what you want, right?"

Calypso scowled. She set the basket near his bedroll. "You haven't eaten in two days. Take a break and  _eat_."

"Two  _days?_ "

"Yes," I said.

Leo hadn't even noticed, which surprised him, since he liked food. He was even more surprised that Calypso had  _noticed_.

"Thanks," Leo muttered. "I'll, uh…try to hammer more quietly."

"Huh," She muttered, sounding very unimpressed.

After that, she didn't complain about the noise or the smoke. Often Leo now went out and wandered around Calypso's residence, fixing things that he noticed were out of place while I continued working on the project, doing as Leo commanded and keeping the noise down (despite the fact that I had made no such promise, but Leo said it was respectful and then commented on my terrible people-skills so I decided it was wise to take his advice).

The next time Calypso visited, we were putting the final touches on the first project we'd come up with. Leo didn't notice Calypso until she was right behind him, while she could not only not see me, but I was unable to know fear and so Leo got no warning from me either.

"I brought you-"

Leo jumped, dropping his wires. "Bronze bulls, girls! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

She was wearing red today - Leo's favorite color (which he had rambled about to me thanks to his slight case of cabin fever when it came to being in solitude for so long). This was completely irrelevant. He later admitted that she looked really good in red, but that this was also irrelevant.

"I wasn't  _sneaking_ ," She said. "I was bringing you these."

She showed him the clothes that were folded over her arm: a new pair of jeans, a white T-shirt, an army fatigue jacket…actually, they were  _his_  clothes, except the original ones had burned up months ago. He hadn't been  _wearing_  those clothes when he'd landed on Ogygia, but the close Calypso held looked exactly like the clothes he'd been wearing the first day he'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood - except these looked bigger, resized to fit him better.

"How?" He asked.

Calypso set the clothes at his feet and backed away as if he were a dangerous beast. "I do have a  _little_ magic, you know. You keep burning through the clothes I give you, so I thought I would weave something less flammable."

"These won't burn?" He clarified, picking up the jeans that felt just like normal denim.

"They are  _completely_  fireproof," Calypso promised. "They'll stay clean and expand to fit you, should you ever become less scrawny."

"Thanks." He meant it to sound sarcastic, but he was honestly impressed. He could make a lot of things, but an inflammable, self-cleaning outfit wasn't one of them. "So…you made an exact replica of my favorite outfit. Did you, like, Google me or something?"

"I highly doubt she knows what a 'Google' is," I said. " _I_  hardly know what a 'Google' is."

As predicted, she frowned. "I don't know that word."

"I was correct," I declared.

"You looked me up," Leo explained. "Almost like you had some interest in me."

She wrinkled her nose. "I have an interest in not making you a new set of clothes every other day. I have an interest in your not smelling so bad and walking around my island in smoldering rags."

"Oh, yeah." Leo grinned. "You're  _really_  warming up to me."

Her face got even redder. "You are the most insufferable person I have ever met! I was only returning the favor. You fixed my fountain."

" _That?_ " Leo laughed. "That was no big deal. One of the bronze satyrs had gotten turned sideways and the water pressure was off, so it started making an annoying ticking sound, jiggling up and down, and spewing water over the rim of the pool. I just pulled out a couple of tools and fixed it in about two minutes. I don't like it when things don't work right."

"And the curtains across the cave entrance?"

"The rod wasn't level."

"And my gardening tools?"

"Look, I just sharpened the shears. Cutting wires with a dull blade is dangerous. And the pruners needed to be oiled at the hinge, and-"

"Oh  _yeah_ ," Calypso said, in a pretty good imitation of his voice. "You're  _really_  warming up to me."

For once, Leo was speechless. Calypso's eyes glittered. He knew she was making fun of him, but somehow it didn't feel mean.

She pointed at his worktable. "What are you building?"

"Oh."

He looked at the bronze mirror, which he'd just finished wiring up to the Archimedes sphere. In the screen's polished surface, his own reflection seemed to surprise him. His hair had grown out longer and curlier. His face was thinner and more chiseled, maybe because he hadn't been eating. His eyes were dark and a little ferocious when he wasn't smiling - kind of a Tarzan look, if Tarzan came in extra-small Latino. He couldn't blame Calypso from backing away from him.

"Uh, it's a seeing device," Leo explained. "We found one like this in Rome, in the workshop of Archimedes. If I can make it work, maybe I can find out what's going on with my friends."

Calypso shook her head. "That's impossible. This island is hidden, cut off from the world by strong magic. Time doesn't even flow the same here."

"Well, you've gotta have  _some_  kind of outside contact. How did you find out that I used to wear an army jacket?"

She twisted her hair as if the question made her uncomfortable. "Seeing the past is simple magic. Seeing the present or the future - that is not."

"Yeah, well, watch and learn, Sunshine. I just connect these last two wires and-"

The bronze plate sparked, smoke billowed from the sphere. He pulled off his shirt, threw it down, and stomped on it. It was very obvious Calypso was trying not to laugh, but she was shaking with the effort.

"Not a word," Leo warned.

She glanced at his bare chest, which was sweaty, bony, and streaked with old scars from weapon-making incidents. "Nothing worth commenting on," She assured him.

"Unfortunately, it appears we require magical energies," I said.

"What, my fire isn't magical enough for you?" Leo grumbled, grossing his arms and glaring at my reflection in the bronze mirror.

"Unfortunately, no. Your magic is isolated to powering fire, you cannot channel it into anything beyond flames. You have magic, but not magic you can channel."

"Well, it seems you have  _some_  results," Calypso commented.

Leo looked up to her. "What?"

"You got into contact with someone, right?"

"You can see me?" I asked. She was staring at the mirror where my reflection was turned to the side to look at her. "Only through the mirror, it appears. Well, greetings Calypso. I have been witness to Leo's actions since his arrival, but it appears you and I have failed to become properly acquainted."

Calypso quickly realized that I was far from a talkative person, but she didn't seem too upset about it. After all, she still seemed to believe I was mostly in the mirror than anything else.

"He's right, you know," Calypso continued. "If you want that device to be able to show you what you want, perhaps you should try a musical invocation."

"Right," Leo said. "Whenever an engine malfunctions, I like to tap-dance around it. Works every time."

She took a deep breath and began to sing. Her voice hit him like a cool breeze - like that first cold front in Texas when the summer heat finally breaks and you start to believe things might get better. Leo couldn't understand the words, but the song was plaintive and bittersweet, as if she were describing a home she could never return to. Her singing was magic, no doubt, but it wasn't like Medea's trance-inducing voice, or even Piper and Emily's charmspeak. The music didn't want anything from him. It simply reminded him of his best memories - building things with his mom in her workshop; sitting in the sunshine with his friends at camp.

Something even stirred within me, memories came forth without my consent, and though they didn't invoke the emotions they might have otherwise, I knew that I cared for these memories enough to have cherished them once.

There was once, when I was very little, when my mother first hugged me. She had never done such a thing before, she said I didn't need comfort, that I wouldn't receive it in this world and she wouldn't be the one to leave me unprepared for when I was let down. But one day I got lost. I slipped through an outdoor market, a place Tsuchi only let me go once or twice and only with her by my side. But I got lost, hiding from someone. It took two days for Tsuchi to find me. When she did, the first thing she did was grip my wrist hard enough to bruise and dragged me back home to our secret hideout. She slapped me, shouted a lot, but she was crying. She hated me, she expressed her displeasure plenty of times since I was the son Hermes had left her. But in the end she worried over me, got me food and water, if angrily, to make sure I was okay. Then, that night, she told me to come close and then she hugged me. It was gentle, gentler than anything I'd experienced before. The next morning she would be gone and back to her normal self, but it was that night, when I fell asleep in her arms, that I realized she loved me. That's what I grew up believing love was.

At Ward X, I waited for that moment when someone would hug me. I pushed to my limits for my speed and agility, I was complacent and learned to lie to fit in. The first man that I killed was the man that had first taken me from my mother, the man who'd taken me to Ward X as I screamed for him to go back for Tsuchi. He had been sacrificed to me, or so I'd gathered. They didn't care about him there, they only cared about what I could do when I was filled with hatred and trained to be powerful. And yet no one hugged me. Nothing got better after that. No one loved me. Not until Rei came along.

She was unconscious when I first saw her. She was older than me, at least that's what I thought based on her size. I said hello to her when she woke up, she looked at me with dazed eyes. Whatever they'd done to her, it was almost like they'd drugged her. She looked really sad for some reason, but she didn't even seem to know why. I gave her a hug, thinking it would help her, and it did. It seemed to make her feel better. When I next saw her, she was much more animated, alive. We hated each other at one point, but I took it as love. Hate meant you trusted someone enough to be straightforward with them and to trust that nothing mean that you did would ever break your bond. She didn't seem to understand that logic at first, but she came around eventually. We bonded over similarities, we ran away. That first day we were free, she wrapped her arms around me for a reason I couldn't fathom. We were free, we were happy, we'd done everything that we'd planned. But that night, I found myself crying for the first time since I had been taken. She had known, somehow, that I was hurting, and finally she had given me the hug that I needed.

I remembered the days she taught me how to survive and enjoy my life. She showed me how to enjoy the breeze and the sun, though she was very uncomfortable around water and the smell of the sea for some reason. When a storm came, she would always know beforehand and stand out in an open area to almost get struck by lightning a couple times. It was only when the rain came down that she felt uncomfortable, and I assumed the water phobia was something that they had done to her back at the Ward. She brought me to the highest trees we could find and soaked up the sun and the wind, we learned to steal and to hunt from each other, we became an inseparable pair.

When had that ended, I wonder? What had it felt like to be so devoted to a loved one that you felt they were a part of yourself?

And why couldn't I remember anymore?

* * *

The Roman demigods were approaching Camp Half-Blood, both sides surrounded by an army of green people that seemed to be made of smoke. Among the ranks of the demigods, the Kerkopes wreaked havoc to Leo's amusement.

" _I would take caution, Octavian,_ " One of the green smoke people said to him. She had the voice of a woman, though one that couldn't be easily discerned. " _The time has not yet come for war. Your fate shall be met soon, and I will not be merciful enough to change that. We, the Curses, will not allow you to destroy this world._ "

Octavian didn't acknowledge the Curse. To him, it was nothing but a voice in his head, one he worked hard to ignore.

" _Soon, we shall have our power,_ " The Curse continued. " _And you will perish by the hands of Fate._ "

" _Big sister will be unleashed soon,_ " Another Curse said. " _She approaches the abyss now._ "

" _Excellent. And the Praetor?_ "

" _We are protecting her now,_ " A third Curse said.

Reyna was flying through a storm on the back of a light-brown pegasus. Reyna's dark hair flew in the wind. Her purple cloak fluttered, revealing the glimmer of her armor. She was bleeding from cuts on her arms and face. Her pegasus's eyes were wild, his mouth slathering from hard riding; but Reyna peered steadfastly forward into the storm. Surrounding her were the Curses, flying like spirits to make a shield. A wild gryphon dived out of the clouds, raking its claws across the horse's ribs, almost throwing Reyna. A Curse broke formation and flew to the wound on her pegasus, disappearing as the green smoke seeped into the wound and began to close it, unable to heal it completely, but preventing it from becoming a major problem for the moment. Reyna, meanwhile, drew her sword and slashed the monster down. Seconds later, three venti appeared - dark air spirits swirling like miniature tornadoes laced with lightning. Reyna nodded to the remaining Curses, their numbers dwindling from giving up their energy to make sure that Reyna and her steed remained intact. They charged the venti, yelling defiantly.

And then the bronze mirror went dark.

"No!" Leo yelled, jolting me out of my daze.

Leo would later explain to me what he'd seen in the bronze mirror, the camps at war and Reyna, but something seemed to have distracted me. Maybe it was Calypso's singing, or maybe…

"Something is coming."

"No, not now," Leo continued. "Show me what happens!" He banged on the mirror. "Calypso, can you sing again or something?"

She glared at him. "I suppose that is your girlfriend? Your Penelope? Your Elizabeth? Your Annabeth?"

"What?" Leo couldn't figure out what she meant. Half the stuff she said made no sense. "That's Reyna. She's not my girlfriend! I need to see more! I need-!"

" _NEED!_ " A voice rumbled in the ground beneath his feet.

I felt Gaea approaching and stepped back besides Calypso. Leo staggered, suddenly feeling like he was standing on the surface of a trampoline.

" _NEED is an overused word._ "

A swirling human figure erupted from the sand - Leo's least favorite goddess, the Mistress of Mud, the Princess of Potty Sludge, Gaea herself. Leo threw a pair of pliers at her. Unfortunately she wasn't solid, and they passed right through. Her eyes were closed, but she didn't look asleep, exactly. She had a smile on her dust devil face, as if she were intently listening to her favorite song. Her sandy robes shifted and folded, reminding Leo of the undulating fins on that stupid shrimpzilla monster they'd fought in the Atlantic. For his money, though, Gaea was uglier.

" _You want to live,_ " Gaea said. " _You want to join your friends. But you do not_ need _this, my poor boy. It would make no difference. Your friends will die, regardless._ "

Leo's legs shook. He hated it, but whenever this witch appeared, he felt like he was eight years old again, trapped in the lobby of his mom's machine shop, listening to Gaea's soothing evil voice while his mother was locked inside the burning warehouse, dying from heat and smoke.

"What I  _don't_  need," Leo growled, "is more lies from you, Dirt Face. You told me my great-granddad died in the 1960s. Wrong! You told me I couldn't save my friends in Rome. Wrong! You told me a lot of things."

Gaea's laughter was a soft rustling sound, like dirt trickling down a hill in the first moments of an avalanche. " _I tried to help you make better choices. You could have saved yourself. But you defied me at every step. You built your shop. You joined that foolish quest. Now you are trapped here, helpless, while the mortal world dies._ "

Leo's hands burst into flame. He wanted to melt Gaea's sandy face to glass. Then, he felt Calypso's hand on his shoulder.

"Gaea." Her voice was stern and steady. "You are not welcome."

Leo wished he could sound as confident as Calypso. Then he remembered that this annoying fifteen-year-old girl was actually the three-thousand-year-old immortal goddess of a Titan.

" _Ah, Calypso._ " Gaea raised her arms as if for a hug. " _Still here, I see, despite the god's promises. Why do you think that is, my dear grandchild? Are the Olympians being spiteful, leaving you with no company except this undergrown fool? Or have they simply forgotten you, because you are not worth their time?_ "

Calypso stared straight through the swirling face of Gaea, all the way to the horizon.

" _Yes_ ," Gaea murmured sympathetically. " _The Olympians are faithless. They do not give second chances. Why do you hold out hope? You supported your father, Atlas, in his great war. You knew that the gods must be destroyed. Why do you hesitate now? I offer a chance that Zeus would never give you._ "

"Where were you these last three thousand years?" Calypso asked. "If you are so concerned with my fate, why do you visit me only now?"

Gaea turned up her palms. " _The earth is slow to wake. War comes in its own time. But do not think it will pass you by on Ogygia. When I remake the world, this prison will be destroyed as well._ "

"Ogygia…destroyed?" Calypso shook her head, as if she couldn't imagine those two words going together.

" _You do not have to be here when that happens,_ " Gaea promised. " _Join me now. Kill this boy. Spill his blood upon the earth, and help me to wake. I will free you and grant you any wish. Freedom. Revenge against the gods. Even a prize. Would you still have the demigod Percy Jackson? I will spare him for you. I will raise him from Tartarus. He will be yours to punish or to love, as you choose. Only kill this trespassing boy. Show your loyalty._ "

Several scenarios went through Leo's head - none of them good. He was positive Calypso would strangle him on the spot or order his invisible wind servants to chop him into Leo purée. Why wouldn't she? Gaea was making her the ultimate deal - kill one annoying guy, get a handsome one for free!

Calypso thrust her hand toward Gaea in a three-fingered gesture Leo recognized from Camp Half-Blood: the Ancient Greek ward against evil. "This is not just my prison, Grandmother. It is my home. And  _you_  are the trespasser."

The wind ripped Gaea's form into nothingness, scattering the sand into the blue sky.

Leo swallowed. "Uh, don't take this the wrong way, but you didn't kill me. Are you  _crazy?_ "

Calypso's eyes smoldered with anger, but for once, the anger didn't seem directed at Leo. "Your friends must need you, or Gaea would not ask for you death."

"I…uh, yeah. I guess."

"Then we have work to do. We must get you back to your ship."


	31. A Primose to Keep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you believe that there was a moment when I thought that I could add a little more onto this chapter because I thought that I was at half the amount of words because I got this story confused for another chapter of another story? PS that story was my High Warlock of Brooklyn(s Sister) story which painfully hurts me because season 3. Enough said. Anyway, this story is a balm to the soul compared to that one and I need to get through Lady Midnight in my other story thankfully based on the books rather than the TV series. I mean, they brought back Ruelle's music, which is the only thing that makes it worth it. Even then, the messed up plot compared to the books makes me ashamed to hear Ruelle sullied by it. So much to do, so little muse. But hey, at least I cranked this out :)
> 
> Enjoy!

First Person: Kaze

Leo thought he'd been busy before. When Calypso set her mind to something, she was a machine. Within a day, she'd gathered enough supplies for a week-long voyage: food, flasks of water, herbal medicines from her garden, etc. She wove a sail big enough for a small yacht and made enough rope for all the rigging. She got so much done that by the second day she asked Leo if he needed any help with his own project.

He looked up from the circuit board that was slowly coming together. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were anxious to get rid of me."

"That's a bonus," She admitted.

She was dressed for work in a pair of jeans and a grubby white T-shirt. When he asked her about the wardrobe change, she claimed she had realized how practical these clothes were after making some for Leo. In the blue jeans, she didn't look much like a goddess. Her T-shirt was covered with grass and dirt stains, like she'd just run through a swirling Gaea, her feet were bare, her cinnamon-toast hair was tied back, which made her almond eyes look even larger and more startling. Her hands were calloused and blistered from working with rope.

Looking at her, Leo felt a tugging in his stomach that he couldn't quite explain.

I didn't understand it.

"So?" She prompted.

"So…what?" Leo asked.

She nodded at the circuitry. "So can I help? How is it coming?"

"Oh, uh, I'm good here. I guess. If I can wire this thing up to the boat, I should be able to navigate back to the world."

"Now all you need is a boat."

He tried to read her expression. He wasn't sure if she was annoyed that he was still here or wistful that she wasn't leaving too. Then he looked at all the supplies she'd stacked up - easily enough for two people for several days.

"What Gaea said…" Leo hesitated. "About you getting off this island. Would you want to try it?"

She scowled. "What do you mean?"

"Well…I'm not saying it would be fun having you along, always complaining and glaring at me and stuff. But I suppose I could stand it, if you wanted to try."

Her expression softened just a little. "How noble," She muttered. "But no, Leo. If I tried to come with you, your tiny chance of escape would be no chance at all. The gods have placed ancient magic on this island to keep me here. A hero can leave. I cannot. The most important thing is getting you free so you can stop Gaea. Not that I care what happens to you," She added quickly. "But the world's fate is at stake."

"Why would you care about that?" He asked. "I mean, after being away from the world for so long?"

She arched her eyebrows, as if surprised that he'd asked a sensible question. "I suppose I don't like being told what to do - by Gaea or anything else. As much as I hate the gods sometimes, over the past three millennia I've come to see that they're better than the Titans. They're  _definitely_  better than the giants. At least the gods kept in touch. Hermes has always been kind to me."

"My father speaks to all but I, it seems," I said without emotion.

Leo frowned. "I'm sorry, Kaze."

"He is forbidden," I said flatly. "There is nothing to be done."

"I mean,  _some_  of the gods aren't as bad as they seem, right? They want to be good, but there are laws and stuff."

"Your father, Hephaestus, has often visited as well," Calypso added. "He is a good person."

Leo wasn't sure what to make of her faraway tone. She almost sounded like she was pondering  _his_  worth, not his dad's. She reached out and closed his mouth. He hadn't seemed to realize it was hanging open.

"Now," Calypso said. "How can I help?"

"Oh." He stared down at his project, but when he spoke, he blurted out an idea that had been forming ever since Calypso made his new clothes. "You know that flameproof cloth? You think you could make me a little bag of that fabric?"

He described the dimensions. Calypso waved her hand impatiently. "That will only take minutes. Will it help on your quest?"

"Yeah. It might save a life. And, um, could you chip off a little piece of crystal from your cave? I don't need much."

She frowned. "That's an odd request."

"Humor me."

"All right. Consider it done. I'll make the fireproof pouch tonight at the loom, when I've cleaned up. But what can I do now, while my hands are dirty?"

She held up her calloused, grimy fingers. Leo couldn't help thinking there was  _nothing_  hotter than a girl who didn't mind getting her hands dirty. But of course, that was just a general comment. Didn't apply to Calypso, he insisted. Obviously.

"You may twist more bronze coils," I announced, grabbing them and handing them over.

Calypso's wind servants worked with me really well in communicating with Calypso ever since she found out I was here.

"But that's kind of specialized-" Leo began.

She pushed in next to him on the bench and began to work, her hands braiding the bronze wiring faster than he could have. "Just like weaving. This isn't so hard."

"Huh," Leo said. "Well, if you ever get off this island and want a job, let me know. You're not a  _total_  klutz."

She smirked. "A job, eh? Making things in your forge?"

"Nah, we could start our own shop," Leo said, surprising himself. Starting a machine shop had always been one of his dreams, but he'd never told anyone about it. "Leo and Calypso's Garage: Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters."

"Fresh fruits and vegetables," Calypso offered.

"Cider and stew," Leo added. "We could even provide entertainment. You could sing and I could, like, randomly burst into flames."

Calypso laughed - a clear, happy sound that made Leo's heart skip.

"See," He said. "I'm funny."

She managed to kill her smile. "You are  _not_  funny. Now, get back to work, or no cider and stew."

"Yes, ma'am," He said.

We worked in silence, side by side, for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

Two nights later, the guidance console was finished.

I went off to chop wood into boards while Leo and Calypso sat on the beach, near the spot where Leo had destroyed the dining table, and they ate a picnic dinner together. The full moon turned the waves to silver, their campfire sent orange sparks into the sky. Calypso wore a fresh white shirt and her jeans, which she'd apparently decided to live in. Behind them in the dunes, the supplies were carefully packed and ready to go.

"All we need now is a boat," Calypso said.

Leo nodded, trying not to linger on the word ' _we_.' Calypso had made it clear she wasn't going.

"Kaze's already working on chopping wood into boards now," Leo announced. "He's practically a machine. Few days, we'll have enough for a small hull."

"You've made a ship before," Calypso remarked. "Your Argo II."

Leo nodded. He thought about all those months he'd spent creating the Argo II. Somehow, making a boat to sail from Ogygia seemed like a more daunting task.

"So how long until you sail?" Calypso's tone was light, but she didn't meet her eyes.

"Uh, not sure. Another week?"

For some reason, saying that made Leo feel less agitated. When he had gotten here, he couldn't wait to leave. Now, he was glad he had a few more days. Weird.

Calypso ran her fingers across the completed circuit board. "This took so long to make."

"You can't rush perfection, even with Kaze's speed."

A smile tugged at the edge of her mouth. "Yes, but will it work?"

"Getting out, no problem," Leo said. "But to get back I'll need Festus and-"

" _What?_ "

Leo blinked. "Festus, my bronze dragon. Once I figure out how to rebuild him, I'll-"

"You told me about Festus. But what do you mean  _get back?_ "

Leo grinned nervously. "Well…to get back here, duh. I'm sure I said that."

"You most definitely did not."

"I'm not gonna leave you here! After you helped me and everything? Of  _course_  I'm coming back. Once I rebuild Festus, he'll be able to handle an improved guidance system. There's this astrolabe that I, uh…" He stopped, deciding it was best not to mention that it had been built by one of Calypso's old flames. "…that I found in Bologna. Anyway, I think with that crystal you gave me-"

"You can't come back," Calypso insisted.

Leo's heart sank. "Because I'm not welcome?"

"Because you  _can't_. It's impossible. No man finds Ogygia twice. That is the rule."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, you might've noticed I'm not good at following rules. I've got some friends that break the rules all the time, and hey, maybe I can just bring a friend of mine to come and get you too - if no man can find this place twice, what about a  _woman?_  Either way, I'm coming back here with my dragon, and we'll spring you. Take you wherever you want to go. It's only fair."

"Fair…" Calypso's voice was barely audible.

In the firelight, her eyes looked so sad, Leo couldn't stand it. Did she think he was lying to her just to make her feel better? He considered it a given that he would come back and free her from this island. How could he not?

"You didn't really think I could start Leo and Calypso's Auto Repair without Calypso, did you?" He asked. "I can't make cider and stew, and I  _sure_  can't sing."

She stared at the sand.

"Well, anyway," Leo continued. "Tomorrow we'll get started working with the lumber. And in a few days…"

"Leo Valdez!" I called. He and Calypso looked up as I walked from the forest and down to where they were on the beach. "I have connected to it."

"What?" Leo asked.

"I was not able to do so until the conditions were fulfilled, but I have connected to the raft."

I pointed. He looked out over the water. Something was bobbing on the waves. Leo watched in disbelief as a large wooden raft floated in on the tide and slid to a stop on the beach. Leo was too dazed to move, but Calypso sprang to her feet.

"Hurry!" She sprinted across the beach, grabbed some supply bags, and ran them to the raft as I walked over and grabbed some more supply bags, ambling after her. "I don't know how long it will stay!"

"But…" Leo stood. His legs felt like they'd turned to rock. He had just convinced himself he had another week on Ogygia. Now he didn't even have time to finish dinner. "That's the magic raft?"

"Duh!" Calypso yelled. "It  _might_  work like it's supposed to and take you where you want to go. But we can't be sure. The island's magic is obviously unstable. You must rig up your guidance device to navigate."

I grabbed the console and ran towards the raft, which finally got Leo moving. He helped fasten it to the raft and run wires to the small rudder in the back. The raft was already fitted with a mast, so I hauled the sail onboard and started on the rigging. Leo and Calypso worked side by side in perfect harmony. Even among the Hephaestus campers, Leo had never worked with anyone as intuitive as this immortal gardener girl. Even when Emily was connected to his mind and thinking on the same wavelength, Calypso worked on her own even faster than he could. In no time, the sail was in place and all the supplies were aboard. Leo hit the buttons on the Archimedes sphere, muttered a prayer to his dad, Hephaestus, and the Celestial bronze console hummed to life.

"Let us begin," I said, holding my hands up as the wind bent to my command.

The rigging tightened, the sail turned, and the raft began scraping against the sand, straining to reach the waves.

"Go," Calypso said.

Leo turned. She was so close he couldn't stand it. She smelled like Cinnamon and wood smoke, and he thought he'd never smell anything that good again.

"The raft finally got here," He said.

Calypso snorted. Her eyes might have been red, but it was hard to tell in the moonlight. "You just noticed?"

"But if it only shows up for guys you like-"

"Don't push your luck, Leo Valdez. I  _still_  hate you."

"Okay."

"And you are  _not_  coming back here. So don't give me any empty promises."

"How about a  _full_  promise? Because I'm definitely-"

She grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss, which effectively shut him up. For all his joking and flirting, Leo had never kissed a girl before. Well, sisterly pecks on the cheek from Piper, but that didn't count. This was a real, full-contact kiss. If Leo had had gears and wires in his brain, they would've short-circuited.

Calypso pushed him away. "That didn't happen."

"Okay," Leo squeaked, his voice sounding an octave higher than usual.

"Get out of here."

"Okay," He repeated.

"Guide him well, Kaze."

She turned, wiping her eyes furiously, and stormed up the beach, the breeze tousling her hair. Leo looked ready to call for her, but I did as Calypso told me and summoned the winds. The sail caught the full force of the wind, and the raft cleared the beach. Leo struggled to align the guidance console. By the time Leo looked back, the island of Ogygia was a dark line in the distance, their campfire pulsing like a tiny orange heart.

His lips still tingled from the kiss.

" ** _That didn't happen,_** " He told himself. " ** _I can't be in love with an immortal girl. She_ definitely _can't be in love with me. Not possible._** "

As the raft skimmed over the water, taking him back to the mortal world, Leo understood a line from the Prophecy better - ' _an oath to keep with a final breath_.'

He understood how dangerous oaths could be, but at that moment Leo didn't care.

"I'm coming back for you, Calypso," He said to the night wind. "I swear it on the River Styx."

Something within me stirred. A promise, perhaps, that I'd made before I disappeared. Maybe Gaea  _had_ taken something away from me when I was transformed. Just a single thing, but something important nonetheless. A promise.

 _I will come back to you. I swear it on the River Styx_.

* * *

First Person: Zytaveon

There were many things about life that didn't come with a guide. Being trapped inside a dream world was one of them.

I followed Lu's…uh, parent (?) out of the bathroom to find they were pouting, looking thoroughly  _not_  like a god at all as they argued to be left alone by the others.

"I'm just not in the mood, okay? I'm tired of this."

Lu was the first to notice my return, and she stood to meet me halfway.

"Where's Audrey?" She asked.

"What?"

"She went to the bathroom and you went to go check on her because she was taking a while. So where is she?"

I was  _sure_  that wasn't what had happened, but perhaps Erótisi had done something to manipulate the minds of everyone here - considering what they had told me about being the only other real thing here.

"She was…doing a watery thing…?" I tried. "I don't know. Girls are girls and I don't understand them."

She sighed and shook her head. "Well, neither do I, and I  _am_  one. Anyway, we should get going. It's taken far too long for my papa to get here and now we're at least ten minutes behind schedule."

"Schedule for what?"

"I dunno. You tell me."

The world seemed to shimmer and I felt as though I should know what was happening. What was I supposed to be expected to do with all of these people together? What  _did_  I want to do? Where was I even going? In all honesty, I would've been more comfortable alone than with too big of a group.

"Just the two of us then," Lu nodded, as though we'd been having a conversation about it.

 _Had_  we had a conversation about it? You know, it felt like we had somehow. Maybe she had read my thoughts or something.

She took my hand. "Come on. The others won't mind."

Her hand felt freezing to the point that it seemed to sting. For a moment, the world flickered like a glitch and I thought I saw something different about her. What it was? I couldn't say because a moment later everything was fine and she was leading me out of the random coffee shop that I arrived in. I was finally able to take a look at my surroundings and realize where I was.

"Is this…New Rome?"

"Of course it is," Lu said. "So, where do you want to go?"

"Uh…I don't know."

She frowned, tilting her head curiously. "Where will your heart take you? Just concentrate and allow yourself to be guided by your soul, the part of you that you don't understand and that you don't  _have_  to."

"What do you mean?"

She stepped around me, looking around the city of New Rome as though reminiscing. "You are perfect, or so that's what we believe. You have a power we don't understand, and not understanding it is okay."

"'We?' Who are you? Why am I here?"

"We," She repeated with a nod. "We of the darkness and light, we of the beginning and end - we of the Primordials. We are the part of them that they make up but cannot control. I am Chaos, and I am all that makes up Chaos. I'm the only part of Chaos that can currently speak to you, that's  _willing_  to speak you. There are many parts of me, and most of them want to just leave you to die here. But  _I_  don't. I…I still believe in you. I still want to live. Unfortunately, I can't do much no matter what I want."

"And… _why_  am  _I_  here?"

She shrugged. "Do you want to save her? This girl right here whom your heart desires?"

"Lu?" I asked, something in my chest tightening.

"Rei," She corrected. "I can help you save her."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I need her. And because you want to save her as I do. Don't you?"

"If she's in trouble, yes. She can't hold all this burden upon her shoulders alone."

She shifted her weight from foot to foot. "You're an odd one, aren't you? There's so much hidden within you that you don't see. But just concentrate and I'll take you to her. And Zytaveon? Please do take care. Your future is very uncertain, but I know enough about you to know it'll be fun to watch either way. Now, concentrate on her and you will find her. Save her, for I, myself, cannot. She is in great danger, and though I…though I wasn't fond of her before, I…I want to believe in you…and Order, and…I want you to show me why Order thought you'd be able to save me."

My vision blurred, but not to the point that things became completely black. When my eyes focused again, I realized I was standing on a balcony with Lu still beside me, staring over the city with a small smile, her hair blowing lightly in the warm summer breeze. It was  _not_  weird to stare at her for a few moments in that silence, obviously. It was one of those moments where she was her true self - quiet and brooding but resting her face with a light smile to give nothing away. But it gave  _everything_  away. I mean, really,  _any_  sane person would stare at her like that for at least a  _few_  seconds.

"Perhaps it's stupid," She said with a small chuckle.

"What is?" I asked.

She almost seemed surprised that I had spoken, as if she'd forgotten I was there. Then again,  _had_  I been here the entire time? Was she even talking to me? I mean, she wasn't one to talk aloud to herself, not unless she had an idea and needed to document faster than she could write down or type so she recorded it.

She turned to look at me, her eyes raising to mine slowly. "Um…" She moved her gaze back down to the city again. "A lot of things, really. You're not even real, for one. And yet somehow that makes me miss you. I want a lot of things, but…I've never wanted a normal life before. Not until I met you and realized…things would've been a lot nicer if we'd met under normal circumstances. I could be someone who you'd actually be able to love properly. As it stands, just look where we are. I've dragged you into this stupid situation because Order told me to, even knowing what it did to my little brother last time. I lost myself when I had that Primordial within me, and now, after everything, I need it back."

"What?"

"That power. I'm…I'm some drug addict, addicted to the power of the gods like some maniac and it's eventually going to make me kill myself over it. And somehow, I'd be okay with that."

"You're  _not_  a power addict," I insisted. "You just want to be able to protect what you love."

"I want to protect  _myself_. I want to make the pain go away, I want to stop thinking, I want…I want to be able to say I survived intact."

"Survived what?"

"Ward X." There was a hitch in her voice. "200 years of their madness, it was a miracle I came out as well as I did. It wasn't a miracle though. It was Order. It was  _always_  her. It was never me. Sometimes, I wonder who I am, if I'm even real, if I even exist."

"200 years?"

I felt stupid, asking question after question, but then again, I also felt like there were so many things about her that I didn't know. She must have thought that I was an illusion, just as I had been put into a fake universe of sorts. I wanted to confess to her the truth, that I was real, that it wasn't just a dream, but in the end, I stopped myself, getting distracted. I decided to take the opportunity to get to know her better and find out her past to help her. I would tell her the truth in a moment. For now, I just wanted to be a little closer to her in a way no one else was. Perhaps that made me selfish, but no one ever said emotions could be understood.

"200, give or take. I'm not sure. All I knew was that they kept on killing me, over and over, trying to harness the power I gained from my mother."

"That limit break thing that saves you when you're on the verge of death," I remembered.

She nodded. "But even beyond that…I suppose I never told you the details. Every time I'm killed, my soul gets split apart - the part of me that died going away and then the rest of me being restored. But the human soul is a powerful thing, especially when it comes to my mother's power. So much energy is produced in splitting my soul and saving my life that…temporarily I have immunity, depending on the severity of the kill and how close I come to being unsavable. I get a super-charged healing factor, one so strong that…"

"You gain temporary immortality," I realized. "Like in that Doctor Who thing where the girl was made immortal thanks to the saving medical alien thingy in her forehead. Or when he got his hand cut off but could still regrow it because he was in the first few hours of his regeneration cycle."

She chuckled, and the sound seemed to warm the air itself with a lighthearted feeling. "That's not the most eloquent way to put it, but yes. But it wasn't…imagine your soul fragmenting hundreds and hundreds of times. Like Yeul, you know? Except a little more painful. It feels like your heart is being ripped out of you, you can't breathe, you can't think, and then this cooling chill overcomes you and your heart is shoved back into your chest by force, life is forced upon you again, but a part of you is missing and you can never get it back. You reach for Death's hand and hope for the peace he could bring you, but then you can feel again and your afterlife has been denied. Let's just say Thanatos and I have a passive-aggressive relationship."

I smiled. "I can imagine."

She returned the smile and I instinctively took her hand, leaning close. "See? There's that smile I love."

She gripped my hand tighter. "The worst thing was the water. Water and electricity don't mix, the light of the sun can be blocked out beneath its depths. A part of me thinks that Zyanya taunted me by making Audrey a child of the sea god. Or maybe she did it to help me. While I had the goddess within me, I didn't fear her. I didn't abhor the smell of the sea or the sound of the waves. If I lose her…I'll fear it again. And I'm not sure I'd be able to survive."

"I'll be here for you. I promise. And so will the others. You're far from alone."

She stared pensively across the city, the breeze increasing almost as though to signal something foreboding. "I should've had some kind of brain damage for how long they dunked me, how  _often_  they dunked me, and how little time I had to get air. But my brain healed from within. Apollo's blood wouldn't let me die - not with something as small as a few moments of oxygen deprivation at best, not with my mother's power accelerating the healing so strongly. It was enough to barely kill me, but bring me back to life again and again and again like Talia al Ghul revived in succession from the Lazarus Pit. My mother's blood refused to let up and stop my cells from healing themselves. There are too many things in me that have shattered, and when I come out, what kind of person will I be?"

"You'll be  _you_. I know who you are, so do the others. Parts of you are gone, yes, but your soul is still yours."

There was a long pause before she next spoke. "1024."

I blinked. "What?"

"1024. That's how many times they killed me. Every time, my body fought back and revived me with the power of a god, but in turn, I became addicted to it, like a drug. Now, I feel lost, empty, without the power, and I want to feel like I can't hold myself together, I want to taste death and feel that empowering jolt. We're at about 1036 right about now, and oddly enough the chaos and pain of dealing with the Primordials? It calms me. In the hectic struggle, I've at least had a goal. I just wish I could've had more time."

"To be yourself?"

"To be…nothing. To be nothing but a pawn. At least then I don't have to think, my actions aren't my own, I don't feel the guilt of making the wrong decisions, I have the power to make the right ones. Now…I don't know  _what_  I'm supposed to do. To save you, to save the others, to save the camps and all those innocents caught in the crossfire."

"And what about you? What about saving  _yourself?_ "

She looked down at her hand, as though trying to read her palm for the answers. "Myself, huh? Now that's something…even  _I_  don't think I can save."

There was a cracking sound like glass shattering, and the world around us shook. Cracks formed across the view of New Rome, as though we were staring at a painting of the city and now the illusion was breaking. The city shattered in an explosion right behind Lu, and a dark red aura burst free from behind it and sucked up the fragments of New Rome.

"Tartarus has come for us," She said flatly, "and Chaos cannot fight back."

The illusion was eaten up by the red and black void and black tendrils reached out to her, sweeping her hair around her face.

"What's going on?!" I demanded.

Her eyes widened, her stoic face disappearing as though she could hear the whispers in the wind and didn't like the words she heard. "No. I said no!"

The black tendrils reached around her and grabbed my wrist. The grip was solid as a brick wall and bit into my skin like ice. I pulled at it, but there was no slack at all. More of the tendrils grabbed and wrapped around me, taking Lu with me as the final remnants of the illusion of New Rome vanished and a sea of black and red took over my vision.

* * *

Third Person: No. 729

Number 729 had only ever seen the world at a 60-degree angle.

She felt that it had once been a much shallower angle at one point, but that was her best guess from the time she had been alive. Well, 'alive' wasn't really the best word for it. Since she had existed. Yes, that was better.

She wasn't sure why she, out of all 1034 of them, had been chosen to assist No. 1035 in meeting No. 1036. Perhaps it was because she looked the most human if she tried hard enough. Then again, that was just speculation. Many of them  _looked_  human, but they couldn't very well act like it. No. 729 had a broken neck thanks to a man that had hung her from a three-story staircase. That didn't exactly inspire confidence in anyone who saw her - she tended to terrify even some monsters down in Tartarus, or at the very least confuse them.

"No. 1035, are we there yet?" No. 729 asked.

"We are close," No. 1035 assured her.

No. 1035 was burnt from the inside out thanks to the overwhelming power of storing Order within her. No. 729 wasn't sure how long ago she had been created, but she was now the youngest and tasked with finding No. 1036, and so the cycle would continue. The youngest and the oldest held the most power among them. No. 729 remembered when she had been the youngest. She had tracked down No. 730 not long after - she had fallen from the third story after burning the rope that had hung No. 729 to try and free herself. It was a short time as the youngest, but glamorous all the same.

"Where is big sister?" No. 729 asked.

"She has been taken by the Primordials."

"Order and Chaos?"

"Tartarus."

"Is that bad?"

"I have no idea what it means for us," No. 1035 admitted.

"That's probably bad then."

"Our mission is to find and No. 1036 and finish her mission."

"What's her mission?"

"To ensure Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson escape Tartarus alive."

No. 729 couldn't help but giggle. "Does that mean we're looking to follow them in exchange for helping them?"

"Of course. We have been trapped down here for centuries. It's time we return to find big sister. We have reports from the Curses that they are already working to ensure the world does not yet end before we arrive."

"Well that's nice of them."

"They are like us, they  _are_  us, and soon, we will give them the power to merge with us - each and every one."

"You think big sister will like that?"

"I don't know. Perhaps she will not even make it out of this ordeal alive."

"That would be sad. No more of us would be made."

"Yes. That would be the end of an era."

They headed to the edge of Tartarus, through the thickest depths of the Death Mist, before finally, the haze cleared. The land mired in fog opened up to reveal the home of Akhlys, Misery, and the source of No. 1036's creation - every poison in existence.

Annabeth and Percy Jackson must have been the two people that were currently standing there in shock, looking to where their friend had vanished thanks to the struggle of the Primordials tearing her apart. Perhaps that would make No. 1037 soon enough. But for now, No. 729 witnessed the two demigods watch in horror as No. 1036 rose from the ground, forming thanks to another pool of Akhlys's poison. She screeched with a gurgled wail of death, loud enough to be heard for miles even if they were underwater (which had happened with a couple of them during their births) and causing the pair of humans to stagger back defensively, the boy shielding the girl.

When No. 1036 regained her senses, she looked around and spotted Percy and Annabeth. She shuffled forward on weakened, poison-coated legs as the two backed away frightfully. They seemed to be adjusting to being surrounded by the Death Mist, which was good. They seemed to feel more solid, though their minds still required mental barriers if they wanted to retain their wits.

"Do not be afraid," No. 1036 gurgled. "I come to protect you from Night."

"Night?" Annabeth repeated. "Didn't Akhlys say something about feeding us to the night?"

"Yeah, what was  _that_  all about?" Percy asked.

"She comes now," No. 1036 said casually, not properly expressing the magnitude of the true situation with her flat tone.

The temperature dropped. The abyss before them seemed to exhale. Percy grabbed Annabeth and backed away from the edge as a presence emerged from the void - a form so vast and shadowy, the concept of ' _dark_ ' took on a whole new level.

"I imagine," Said the darkness, in a feminine voice as soft as coffin lining, "that she meant Night, with a capital N. After all, I am the only one."

No. 729 could not be afraid of the dark. Granted, normally the dark wasn't forty feet tall, it didn't have black wings, a whip made out of stars, and a shadowy chariot pulled by vampire horses. Nyx was almost too much to take in. Looming over the chasm, she was a churning figure of ash and smoke, as big as the Athena Parthenos statue, but very much alive. Her dress was void black, mixed with the colors of a space nebula, as if galaxies were being born in her bodice. Her face was hard to see except for the pinpoints of her eyes, which shone like quasars. When her wings beat, waves of darkness rolled over the cliffs, making the air feel heavy and sleepy, visibility dim and poor. The goddess's chariot was made of the same material as Nico di Angelo and Veon's sword - Stygian iron - and pulled by two massive horses, all black except for their pointed silver fangs. The beasts' legs floated in the abyss, turning from solid to smoke as they moved. The horses snarled and bared their fangs at the humans. Percy eyed the horses as they nickered. He was still shrouded in Death Mist, so he looked like an out-of-focus corpse - which broke Annabeth's heart every time she saw him. It also must not have been very good camouflage, since Nyx could obviously see them.

They said something along the lines of a very vulgar, " _Yay! New snacks to devour! I can't wait to hear their screams as we eat them alive!_ " or something like that.

The goddess lashed her whip - a thin streak of stars like diamond barbs - and the horses reared back.

"No, Shade," The goddess said. "Down, Shadow. These little prizes are not for you."

No. 729 knew that her sisters were on the way, but she wasn't sure how she was supposed to help these demigods against Night herself. She was just a remnant of a long-since dead woman, a sister to her many other Remnants of a woman who had died a thousand times over and beyond. But in the end, that woman had just been human. She died in the same way that humans did. Would No. 729 even be able to deal a fatal kill? Or at the very least do something  _debilitating?_  No. 1035 would be infinitely more useful, as she had the power of Order herself running through her body. No. 729 once again wondered what her role here was.

She and No. 1035 walked over to join No. 1036 with Percy and Annabeth to confront the Lady Night.

"Uh, so you  _won't_  let them eat us?" Percy asked the goddess. "They  _really_  want to eat us."

Nyx's quasar eyes burned. "Of course not. I would not let my horses eat you, any more than I would let Akhlys kill you. You are  _mine_  to kill,  _personally!_ "

"You should be very proud," No. 729 added helpfully. "To warrant Lady Night's personal attention is a great honor."

Nyx's gaze shifted to the three Remnants. "Cursed Remnants of the darkness, what do you seek here? These mortals are to be  _mine_."

"They are to be  _mine_ ," No. 1036 repeated. "I am to guide them, not you!"

"Guide? How foolish of you to presume, Remnant!"

No. 1035 held her arm out to step between No. 1036 and Night. "Lady Nyx, we make no presumptions. It is simply the final will of No. 1036 - to protect and guide Percy and Annabeth through the depths of Tartarus, to protect them from Akhlys and to protect them from  _you_. Only then will her mission be accomplished."

Nyx snarled like a pack of growling hounds who ate nothing but gravel. "Very well, child. We shall see if your mission is more powerful than I! Such fine prizes, I will kill myself!"

"Oh, don't kill yourself!" Annabeth suddenly cried dramatically. "We're not  _that_  scary."

The goddess lowered her whip. "What? No, I didn't mean-"

"Well, I'd hope not!" Annabeth looked at Percy and forced a laugh. "We wouldn't want to scare her, would we?"

"Ha, ha," Percy said weakly. "No, we wouldn't."

"People  _do_  say I'm scary…" No. 729 admitted. "Even Death and Hades. They don't like us Remnants. That's why we're down here in Tartarus - there was no other place to put us. If even  _I_  scare Lady Night, that's not good."

"I highly doubt  _you_  are the one to scare Lady Nyx," No. 1035 said, trying not to sound offensive. "She has much to fear in theory from me or our numbers, yes."

The vampire horses looked confused. They reared and snorted and knocked their dark heads together, trying to figure out what the puny little ones were trying to say, and feeling the urge to attack upon hearing an insult about their master. Nyx pulled back on the reins.

"Do you know who I am?" She demanded.

"Well, you're Night, I suppose," Annabeth said. "Or  _Nyx?_  Whatever. I mean, I can tell because you're  _dark_ and everything, though the brochure didn't say much about you."

Nyx's eyes winked out for a moment. "What brochure?"

Annabeth patted her pockets. "We had one, didn't we?"

Percy licked his lips. "Uh-huh."

He was still watching the horses, his hand tight on his sword hilt, but he was smart enough to follow Annabeth's lead. Now she just had to hope she wasn't making things worse…though honestly, she didn't see how things  _could_  be worse.

"I want a brochure," No. 729 said, genuinely interested in what a brochure of Tartarus looked like.

She wondered if the Remnants were mentioned in there. They had only been there a few centuries in comparison to everyone else who had probably been there for millennia, and there were monsters that had greater numbers, but still, they had become a well known and profound part of Tartarus to the point that No. 729 had hope that if Tartarus had a brochure  _surely_  the Remnants would be mentioned. Maybe there was a list of them. Maybe there were  _pictures!_

No. 1035 elbowed No. 729 and knocked her on her tilted head, knocking it downwards so that she probably lost another degree on her head angle.

"Yeah, yeah, not the time for brochures," No. 729 whined in protest, "but we should  _totally_  get one, No. 1035!"

"Anyway," Annabeth said. "I guess the brochure didn't say much, because you weren't spotlighted on the tour. We got to see the River Phlegethon, the Cocytus, the arai, the poison glade of Akhlys, some random Titans and giants, even  _three_  whole Remnants at once! But Nyx…hm, no, you weren't really featured."

" _Featured?_ " Nyx repeated, her tone a combination of confused and enraged. " _Spotlighted?_ "

"Yeah," Percy said, warming up to the idea. "We came down here for the Tartarus tour - like, exotic destinations, you know? The Underworld is overdone, Mount Olympus is a tourist trap-"

"Gods  _totally!_ " Annabeth agreed. "So we booked the Tartarus excursion, but no one even  _mentioned_  we'd run into Nyx. Huh. Oh, well. Guess they didn't think you were important."

"Not  _important?!_ " Nyx snapped.

She cracked her whip and her horses bucked and snapped their silvery fangs. Waves of darkness rolled out of the chasm, no doubt terrifying the poor humans and even shaking No. 729's resolve. No. 1035 and No. 1036 remained calm, the former calm and collected - even bored, in a way, of the display - the latter looking like she was ready to attack at any moment. Annabeth pushed down Percy's sword arm, forcing him to lower his weapon. This was a goddess beyond anything they had ever faced. Nyx was older than any Olympian or Titan or giant, older even than Gaea. She couldn't be defeated by two demigods - at least not two demigods using  _force_.

"Well, how many other demigods have come to see you on the tour?" No. 729 asked innocently.

Nyx's hand went slack on the reins. "None. Not one. This is  _unacceptable!_ "

Annabeth shrugged. "Maybe it's because you haven't really  _done_  anything to get in the news. I mean, I can understand  _Tartarus_  being important! This whole place is  _named_  after him. Or, if we could meet Day-"

"Oh, yeah," Percy chimed in. "Day? She would be impressive. I'd  _totally_  want to meet her. Maybe get her autograph."

"Day!" Nyx gripped the rail of her black chariot. The whole vehicle shuddered. "You mean Hemera? She is my daughter! Night is much more powerful than Day!"

"Eh," Annabeth said. "I liked the arai, or even Akhlys better."

"They are my children as well!" Nyx snapped.

Percy stifled a yawn. "Got a lot of children, huh?"

"I am the mother of  _all_  terrors! The Fates themselves! Hecate! Old Age! Pain! Sleep! Death! And all of the curses! Behold how  _newsworthy_  I am!"

"They're all taking your glory!" No. 729 realized. " _That's_  why you've gotten no demigod visitors: all your children are taking away from your popularity! Or perhaps they  _are_  your popularity…"

Nyx lashed her whip again and the darkness congealed around her. On either side, an army of shadows appeared: more dark-wined arai (which Annabeth was not thrilled to see), a withered man who must have been Geras, the god of old age, a younger woman in a black toga, her eyes gleaming and her smile like a serial killer's - no doubt Eris, the goddess of strife and discord. More kept appearing, dozens of demons and minor gods, each one the spawn of Night.

The urge to run must have been very great for the humans, No. 729 thought to herself. They were facing a brood of horrors that could snap anyone's sanity, but they were smart enough to know that running would mean instant death. While Percy was no doubt on the verge of panic, Annabeth took the lead, standing their ground for both of them.

"Hey, we have a big family too!" No. 729 exclaimed.

She and the other Remnants knew most of Nyx's children at that point, No. 729 waving and saying hello to many of them by name. A lot of them amused her with a bow of their head or a wave with a monstrous grin, while others just huffed and snarled, though No. 729 was not deterred.

" _She is correct,_ " a small voice whispered.

The sound swept over the area and could clearly be heard by everyone even through the noise and despite the quiet volume - as though the speaker was standing right behind their ears. From the Death Mist, numerous figures approached, some walking forward normally, other shambling forward on whatever bits of their bodies that remained. Some were making noises - one laughing uncontrollably, another wailing loudly, unable to stop. Each of them had a single resemblance: they were all the same girl. Through the mutilations and slight insanity, each of them looked to be made from one girl, growing up from a child of about four or five years of age to her teenage years. No. 729 looked to be around 8 or 9 years old, while No. 1035 and No. 1036 appeared to be in their early teens to 17 respectively.

Finally, the smallest and youngest of the Remnants walked through the surrounding Death Mist to face the demigods and all of the Night's children. The other Remnants parted for her, no matter how mentally stable they were. She was a little thing, maybe 3 or 4 years old, wearing a bright pink dress with black and white accents, a golden symbol of the sun on her back between her shoulder blades. Her short black hair swept down to cup her face and only went down to halfway between the base of her head to her shoulders. On her neck hung a small pendant with a little teardrop-shaped gem that had more color than anything that had probably ever existed in Tartarus, sparkling with all the colors of a rainbow. In her arms was a stuffed animal - a worn stuffed poodle that had once been pink, dirtied from use but clearly dearly loved. Her eyes were blank but firm, showing wisdom far beyond her years. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and meek, high pitched as it would be for such a young pre-pubescent child.

"We are  _very_  many, Lady Nyx. Maybe even as many as you. But this is no competition now. No. 1036 and her mission are just minor details in the great whole of us."

"Do we get to fight now?" One of the hysterical girls laughed. "I see an army, an army to  _crush!_ "

"Not now, No. 453. We are not here to do battle with beings that will simply regenerate once more. Battle in Tartarus between such powerful beings is pointless here, unless done for sport. I am Remnant No. 1. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase. But our introductions must now be cut short, for it seems that while I wish to avoid conflict, we have two armies on the verge of war and you are standing right in the middle."

No. 729 felt pity for the mortals. They seemed completely lost as to what must be done in this situation; even the girl was now panicking. No. 729 shambled over to her, the Remnant's tilted neck facing toward her ear so that she could whisper.

"Imagine a mental frame around your vision," She advised to the human. "It's just a movie - a scary movie, sure, but it can't hurt you. It's just a story being laid before you, and all you have to do is watch, let it play out, and you are in control of yourself and how the end of this movie plays out. There's always a happy ending, no? There's always a series of coincidences and words that let the heroes win. You are the writer of this story, so make a happy ending."

No. 729 shambled back to where No. 1 was waiting and felt a surge of pride that she had done the right thing when No. 1 nodded at her.

"Well, I'd say we really only have one  _real_  army, eh?" Annabeth said loudly, shrugging despite the terror still surging through her veins. "I mean, I guess your posse isn't  _bad_ , Nyx. Maybe we could get one picture for the scrapbook, but I don't know. You guys are so… _dark_. Even if I used a flash, I'm not sure it would come out."

"Y-Yeah," Percy managed. "You guys aren't photogenic."

"You…you  _miserable tourists!_ " Nyx hissed. "How dare you not tremble before me! How dare you not whimper and beg for my autograph and a picture for your scrapbook! You want  _newsworthy?_  My son Hypnos once put Zeus to sleep! When Zeus pursued him across the earth, bent on vengeance, Hypnos hid in  _my_ palace for safety, and Zeus did not follow. Even the king of Olympus fears me!"

"Well you  _are_  older," No. 628 said.

"And Zeus totally deserved it," No. 294 agreed.

"Shush!" No. 742 chided.

"Gagalgul!" No. 581 tried to say (she had died of drowning, so she had infinite water in her throat, lungs, and mouth and constantly looked like she was underwater - even her hair floated).

"Uh-huh." Annabeth turned to Percy. "Well, it's getting late. We should probably get lunch at one of those restaurants the tour guide recommended. Then we can find the Doors of Death."

"Aha!" Nyx cried in triumph. Her brood of shadows stirred and echoed: "Aha! Aha!"

"You wish to see the Doors of Death?" Nyx asked. "They lie at the very heart of Tartarus, delivered by Chaos himself!"

"Herself," No. 1036 corrected.

"I don't know," No. 1035 said. "It's kinda up in the air at this point."

"Themself then."

Nyx gave a face and a small snort at the two but continued. "Mortals such as you could never reach them, except through the halls of my palace - the Mansion of Night!"

She gestured behind her. Floating in the abyss, maybe three hundred feet below, was a doorway made of black marble, leading into some sort of large room.

No. 1 gave a small smile. "Ah, so  _that_  is the way forward you have long since denied us."

The doorway was so far down, an impossible jump for any human - if they missed, they would fall into Chaos and be scattered into nothingness - a final death with no do-over. With Chaos as depressed as she was, there was no telling what would happen. Even if they could make the jump, the goddess of night and her most fearsome children stood in their way, but the humans were needed if the Remnants were to make it through the doors of Death.

So it was time to employ a tactic that never failed in a world of monsters and constant rebirth, a world where there was no such thing as true death. Like everything, it was a gamble, but that seemed to calm even the humans down. They had a goal now, they had a crazy idea in the face of death.

"Perhaps you could take one picture," No. 305 suggested. "Our leader is No. 1. She should be our representative!"

No. 1 stepped forward with a humble nod. "Yes. Perhaps so. I represent all of my kind, though we may add No. 1036 as well, as she is the youngest. A group photo would not do with such an army. What of you, Lady Nyx?"

"Well you've got a point there," Annabeth said, managing a bored sigh. "I mean, if No. 1 of the Remnants is asking, then I guess we can take  _one_  picture. We've got two of them, so Nyx, how about one of you with your favorite child? Which one is that?"

The brood rustled. Dozens of horrible glowing eyes turned toward Nyx. The goddess shifted uncomfortably, as if her chariot were heating up beneath her feet. Her shadow horses huffed and pawed at the void.

"My favorite child?" She asked. " _All_  my children are terrifying!"

Percy snorted. "Seriously? I've met the Fates. I've met Thanatos. They weren't so scary. You've got to have  _somebody_  in this crowd who's worse than that."

"Hey! We've met Thanatos too!" No. 862 called.

"He's afraid of us too," No. 517 added.

"He's cute," No. 670 sighed.

"GaGALgul!" No. 581 agreed(?)

"Shh," No. 109 hissed.

"Find the darkest among you, Lady Night," No. 1 said with a subtle but sadistic smile. "The one…most like you."

"I am the darkest," Hissed Eris. "Wars and strife! I have caused all manner of death!"

"I am darker still!" Geras snarled. "I dim the eyes and addle the brain. Every mortal fears old age!"

"You have not created one of us yet, after 200 years," No. 85 pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah, I agree," Annabeth said, trying to ignore her chattering teeth. "I'm not seeing enough dark. I mean you're the children of Night! Show me  _dark!_ "

The horde of arai wailed, flapping their leathery wings and stirring up clouds of blackness. Geras spread his withered hands and dimmed the entire abyss. Eris breathed a shadowy spray of buckshot across the void.

"I am the darkest!" Hissed one of the demons.

"No, I!"

"No! Behold my darkness!"

If a thousand giant octopuses had squirted ink at the same time, at the bottom of the deepest, most sunless ocean trench, it could not have been blacker than the scene before them.

"The problem with the darkness in you, Lady Night," No. 1 said in her young, startlingly calm, yet soothingly sadistic voice that pierced through the chaos, "is that you neglect the light - and leave  _yourself_  blind." She raised her hand from her stuffed animal. She flicked her fingers forward. "Go."

The army of a thousand Remnants suddenly surged to life, some wailing and others silent as they hobbled/shambled/charged/ambled forward. The swarm made it to the edge of the abyss turning to clouds of ash that joined in the pandemonium. Some of the shouts from Nyx's children turned to screams of agony, but in all of the chaos, it was hard to discern who was doing what. No. 729 was surprised when she was able to do some actual damage thanks to touching some of the children of Night. For every touch of a Remnant, the victim suffered the same death that killed the Remnant in the first place. All that No. 729 could do was break necks, but at the very least she was doing damage. The Remnants' chaos even came close to killing a couple of Nyx's children for more than a few seconds. The creatures, being so close to Night and Chaos, revived and healed themselves at rapid speeds, but at the same time, they were blaming their deaths on their siblings in the confusion and only increasing the havoc in the melee of darkness.

"Wait!" Nyx called, suddenly panicked. "I can't see anything!"

"Yes!" Shouted one of her children proudly. " _I_  did that!"

"No,  _I_  did!"

"Fool, it was  _me!_ "

Dozens of voices argued in the darkness. The horses whinnied in alarm.

"Stop it!" Nyx yelled. "Whose foot is that?!"

"Eris is hitting me!" Someone cried. "Mother, tell her to stop hitting me!"

"I did  _not!_ " Eris yelled. "Ouch!"

The sounds of scuffling got louder, if possible, the darkness became even deeper, and No. 1 took the hands of both Annabeth and Percy - being the only Remnant capable of touching others without inflicting her death. Her stuffed, anthropomorphic poodle came to life and crawled up her torso to wrap its arms around her neck so that No. 1 could use both of her hands for the two mortals. They had to crouch for her because she was so short, but she didn't find that it was a very important obstacle compared to everything else they were facing. Instead, she could summon the destruction of any one of the deaths of the other Remnants and inflict them at will.

"Are you quite ready?"

"For what?" Percy asked, both him and Annabeth blinded by the encroaching darkness. After a pause, he grunted unhappily. "Poseidon's underpants, you can't be serious."

"We  _have_  to, Percy," Annabeth pressed.

"I will guide you as best I can," No. 1 promised.

"Gee thanks," Percy muttered. "I mean, thanks for the save and all, but what the heck is going on? Who are you and all your…friends?"

"They are my sisters, and we are the Remnants. Now let us make haste."

"Somebody give me light!" Nyx screamed. "Gah! I can't believe I just said that!"

"It's a trick!" Eris yelled. "The demigods are escaping!"

"The Remnants are with them!"

"I'll get the boy!"

"I'll get the girl!"

"Which one?!"

"I've got them!" Screamed an arai.

"No, that's my neck!" Geras gagged.

There was hysterical laughter from within the mass of darkness. No. 936 had died from laughing herself to death, and as such she could give slow and drawn out painful deaths with uncontrollable laughter. Her laughter spread and it was easy to find where she was because the fight between Night's children consisted mostly of screams and shouts of anger so laughter stuck out like a sore thumb. No. 1 knew where all of her Remnants were, and she also knew that though they were strong, pulling them out of the fight between all of Night's children at once even with Nyx herself was recommended if they wanted to make it to the Doors of Death.

"Jump," No. 1 said pulling the two humans along.

They leaped into the darkness, aiming for the doorway far, far below. After falling into Tartarus from the mortal world, jumping three hundred feet to the Mansion of Night should have felt quick. Instead, Annabeth started to write her own obituary with how long the fall felt.

' _Annabeth Chase, died age 17 (assuming her birthday, July 12, had passed while she was in Tartarus, but honestly she had no idea). Died of massive injuries while leaping like an idiot into the abyss of Chaos and splattering on the entry hall floor of Nyx's mansion. Survived by her father, stepmother, and two stepbrothers who barely knew her. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Camp Half-Blood, assuming Gaea hasn't already destroyed it._ '

Their feet hit solid floor. Though the fall was hard for the humans, No. 1 protected them by sending a slight bit of power into their systems, pulling them to their feet and hauling them after her. The stuffed poodle blinked blankly with its chipped marble eyes. Beyond a bit of pain shooting up from their legs, they landed intact compared to what a three hundred foot fall would do otherwise.

Above in the dark, Nyx and her children scuffled and yelled, "I've got them!" "My foot! Stop it!"

The humans could see nothing in the blackness, while even No. 1 could only see very little. She had never been in the Mansion of Night, but she had the power of all of her Remnants. She willed them to retreat from the chaos of the Night fight (that should be an official name) and once again summoned all of them back to her person. Now, at full power, her senses enhanced ten-fold. Her vision flashed and revealed to her the path surrounded by monsters and swirling creatures of the darkness from all around; her hearing increased to listen for the echo of open spaces and obstacles; she could feel the cross-breezes with every square in of her skin, sniffing for any scent of danger - smoke, or poison, or the stench of demons.

It wasn't the first time that Annabeth had plunged through the darkness, imagining she was back in the tunnels under Rome, searching out the Athena Parthenos. In retrospect, her journey to Arachne's cavern seemed like a trip to Disneyland.

The squabbling sounds of Nyx's children got farther away as they made it forward and the two humans were running by her side. As far as No. 1 was concerned, this was going exceedingly well.

Up ahead there was a pulsing of light at the end of the mansion - the end of the darkness and back into the normal, regular, terrifying, but well-lit bowls of Tartarus. The exit was the heart of Tartarus, hence the throbbing heartbeat that began to take over all of their senses. It was a strong pulse, amplified so powerfully, the floor vibrated underfoot. The sound filled even No. 1 with dread, so she predictably gained confidence that it was the right direction. As they drew closer, the smell of smoke filled the air and No. 1 saw the source: torches at the sides of the doors to the exit. Luckily the humans had already closed their eyes, or else No. 1 wouldn't have had ample time to warn them that there was a darkness that could destroy a soul if they were to attempt to witness it. Luckily No. 1 was a creature of Tartarus, considered a monster, and her incomplete soul was immune - though she still felt an effect of her mental barriers and fragments of a soul being attacked, worn away at like the wind was sandpaper eroding her bit by bit.

"Do not open your eyes, demigods!" No. 1 warned.

"Wasn't planning on it," Percy said. "You can feel that, right Annabeth? We're still in the Mansion of Night. I do  _not_  want to see it."

Smart boy, No.1 thought. Percy was often teased for being dumb, but in truth, his instincts were usually right on target. The horrors that lay in the Mansion of Night, they weren't meant for mortal eyes. Seeing them would be much worse than staring at the face of Medusa. Better for them to run in darkness.

The throbbing got louder still as they grew closer to Tartarus's heart, sending vibrations through No. 1 and all of her Remnants within. It felt like someone was knocking on the bottom of the world, demanding to be let in. The walls opened up on either side of them, the air smelled fresher - or at least not quite as sulfurous, and there was another sound, too, closer than the deep pulsing…the sound of flowing water.

Upon hearing this, Annabeth began to run faster. She knew that the exit was close. If they could make it out of the Mansion of Night, they could leave the dark brood of demons behind.

"Stop!" No. 1 shouted.

Only Percy was able to stop himself and by extension Annabeth - the latter having surged ahead of even No. 1 in her eagerness.

"Annabeth!"

Percy pulled her back just as her foot hit the edge of a drop-off. She almost pitched forward into the river in front of them, but Percy grabbed her and wrapped her in his arms. No. 1 sighed, having forgotten that there was a high likelihood that this would be here. Her poodle pulled itself up to sit on her shoulder, and the two shared a glance of exasperation.

"It's okay," Percy was saying to Annabeth.

She pressed her face into his shirt and kept her eyes tight. She was trembling, but not just from fear. Percy's embrace was so warm and comforting she wanted to stay there forever, safe and protected…but that wasn't reality. She couldn't afford to relax, she couldn't lean on Percy any more than she had to - he needed  _her_ , too.

"Thanks." She gently disentangled herself from his arms. "Can you tell what's in front of us?"

"Water," Percy said. "I'm still not looking. I don't think it's safe yet."

"Agreed."

"I can sense a river…or maybe it's a moat. It's blocking our path, flowing left to right through a channel cut in the rock. The opposite side is about twenty feet away."

Annabeth mentally scolded herself. She'd heard the flowing water, but she had never considered she might be running headlong into it.

"A river," No. 1 corrected.

Luckily Annabeth was smart enough to not ask questions. "Is there a bridge, or-?"

"No. And this water is not one you wish to swim through."

The river was a black briny current filled with tortured souls being swept deeper and deeper into Tartarus. Within the roaring current, thousands of voices cried out - shrieking in agony, pleading for mercy.

" _Help! It was an accident!_ " " _The pain! Make it stop!_ "

"This is the River Acheron," No. 1 explained. "The fifth river of the Underworld." A smile crept across her face. "I've never had the pleasure of being so close."

"I liked the Phlegethon better than this," Percy muttered.

"It's the River of Pain," Annabeth recounted. "The ultimate punishment for the souls of the damned - murderers, especially."

" _Murderers!_ " The river wailed. " _Yes, like you!_ "

" _Join us!_ " Another voice whispered. " _You are no better than we are_."

Their minds were flooded with images of all the monsters they'd killed over the years.

" ** _That wasn't murder, I was defending myself!_** "

The river changed course through their minds, showing Zoë Nightshade, who had been slain on Mount Tamalpais because she'd come to rescue Annabeth from the Titans. She saw Nico's sister, Bianca di Angelo, dying in the collapse of the metal giant Talos, because she also had tried to save Annabeth. Michael Yew and Silena Beauregard…who had died in the Battle of Manhattan.

" _You could have prevented it. You should have seen a better way._ "

The most painful death of all: Luke Castellan. Luke's blood on Annabeth's dagger came from after he'd sacrificed himself to stop Kronos from destroying Olympus, something that would forever haunt both of them from their failure to save a boy that had just been misled for a few too many reasons that had made sense yet had still ended up doing the right thing. That kind of strength, seeing the horrors of the side of the gods and then the side of the Titans in the worst way possible and then doing the right thing for himself, not for either side of the war, was something that was nobler than most things No. 1 could ever recall. And his life had been sacrificed as the only solution.

" _His blood is on your hands! There should have been another way!_ "

It was a painful thing, survivor's guilt. There would be an eternal struggle of convincing themselves that Luke's death wasn't their fault. Luke had chosen his fate. Still…none of them knew if his soul had found peace in the Underworld, or if he'd been reborn, or if he'd been washed into Tartarus because of his crimes. He might be one of the tortured voices flowing past right now.

" _You murdered him! Jump in and share his punishment!_ "

No. 1 felt the memories of her shattered soul, the lost people that she had abandoned in an attempt to save herself when she was on the run, the people that had looked to her for salvation, the people who were just tools to make her into what the people of Ward X wanted her to be. She had no control over many of these situations, she had no control over anything but herself, but No. 1 had just enough fragments of a soul to become angry at what she was feeling.

"You be quiet," She ordered firmly, her voice leaving no room for debate.

"Don't listen," Percy agreed, gripping Annabeth's arm tightly.

Annabeth's breath was shaky. "But-"

"I know." His voice sounded as brittle as ice. "They're telling me the same stuff."

"This moat is the border of Night's territory," No. 1 said. "If we are to get across, we will have a moment's reprieve, for Night and her children will not follow. We will have to jump."

"But it's twenty feet!" Annabeth protested.

"I can give you the power to make it. I am the embodiment of some of the greatest power in existence, the power that breathes life even as death grips you tight to rip you away. I have died over a thousand times and have been given the strongest of power each and every time."

She reached up and grabbed onto Percy's arm, pulling herself up to climb on top of him like a monkey.

"Hey, whoa-!"

"Annabeth, wrap your arms around his neck and I shall hold you both. Then, you must jump as far as you are able."

"How can we possibly-?"

"There!" Cried a voice behind them. "Kill the ungrateful tourists!"

The children of Nyx had found them. Annabeth snapped her arms around Percy's neck, feeling the cool touch of No. 1 wrapping her small arms around both of them and sending a jolt that felt like a shock of electricity.

"Go now!" No. 1 shouted.

Percy leaped with more strength than he could ever manage alone. Thanks to No. 1 helping him, he was able to take control of the River Acheron for only a few moments, but enough to give him the boost that he needed. He rose the river in a wave that followed his feet in his normal jump before then riding the water to extend the maximum height and speed of his arc and launching him away with Annabeth and No. 1 holding on. They sailed through the air as the river churned and wailed below them, splashing Annabeth's bare ankles with stinging brine.

Then -  _CLUMP_. They were on solid ground again.

"You may now open your eyes," No. 1 announced, releasing the two of them to slide to her feet and take her stuffed animal in her arms again. "Though I fear you will not like what you see."

The two of them blinked. After the darkness of Nyx, even the dim red glow of Tartarus seemed blinding. Before them stretched a valley big enough to fit the San Francisco Bay. The booming noise came from the entire landscape, as if thunder were echoing from beneath the ground. Under poisonous clouds, the rolling terrain glistened purple with dark red and blue scar lines.

"It looks like…" Annabeth fought down her revulsion, "like a giant heart."

"The heart of Tartarus," Percy murmured.

The center of the valley was covered with a fine black fuzz of peppery dots. They were so far away, it took Annabeth a moment to realize she was looking at an army - thousands, maybe tens of thousands of monsters, gathered around a central pinpoint of darkness. It was too far away for the humans to see any details, but there was no doubt what the pinpoint was. Even from the edge of the valley, Annabeth could feel its power tugging at her soul.

"The Doors of Death," No. 1 announced. "We are almost there."

Her stuffed poodle blinked in response, hanging limp in her arms.

Annabeth looked startled, realizing she'd forgotten all about their pursuers. "What happened to Nyx…?"

She turned, finding that they'd landed several hundred yards from the banks of Acheron, which flowed through a channel cut into black volcanic hills. Beyond that was nothing but darkness. No sign of anyone coming after them. Apparently even the minions of Night didn't like to cross the Acheron.

"They will not tread upon the land of Tartarus's heart without permission," No. 1 said. "They do not wish to use the Doors of Death to go to the Overworld, a land with far too much light. Even to pursue you would mean to face the brightness of this land and the wrath of the beasts who crave freedom."

There was a skittering of a rockslide in the hills to their left. Annabeth drew her drakon-bone sword and Percy raised his sword Riptide while No. 1 turned to the noise calmly.

"Oh," She said flatly. "Hello."

A patch of glowing white hair appeared over the ridge, then a familiar grinning face with pure silver eyes.

"Bob?" Annabeth realized, so happy she actually jumped. "Oh my gods!"

"Friends!"

The Titan lumbered towards them. The bristles of his broom had been burned off. His janitor's uniform was slashed with new claw marks, but he looked delighted. On his shoulder, Small Bob the kitten purred almost as loudly as the pulsing heart of Tartarus.

"I found you!" Bob exclaimed, gathering them all in a rib-crushing hug. "You look like smoking dead people. That is good!"

"Urf," Percy said. "How did you get here? Through the Mansion of Night?"

"No, no." Bob shook his head adamantly. "That place is too scary. Another way - only good for Titans and such."

"Let me guess," Annabeth said. "You went sideways."

Bob scratched his chin, evidently at a loss for words. "Hmm…no. More… _diagonal_."

Annabeth laughed. Here they were at the heart of Tartarus, facing an impossible army - she would have to take any comfort she could get. She was ridiculously glad to have Bob the Titan with them again. She kissed his immortal nose, which made him blink.

"We stay together now?" He asked.

"Yes," Annabeth agreed. "Time to see if this Death Mist works."

"And if it doesn't…" Percy began before stopping himself.

There was no point in wondering about that. They were about to march into the middle of an enemy army. If they were spotted, they were dead. Despite that, Annabeth managed a smile. Their goal was in sight. They had a Titan with a broom and a very loud kitten on their side. They had a girl who could turn herself into a thousand different horrific versions of herself, a small army if there ever was one. And who knew? Maybe Lu and Veon were fighting for them on the Primordial side of things. That all had to count for  _something_.

"Doors of Death, here we come," She said.

"Up," No. 1 ordered, holding her hands up towards Bob and almost looking like a normal child for a moment.

"Okay, Cee-Cee," Bob complied, scooping the small girl up like she was a baby puppy and putting her on his shoulder opposite of Small Bob.

Percy blinked in recognition. "Cee-Cee?"

No. 1 looked down at him. "Oh, yes. I told you, I am the embodiment of some of the greatest power in existence, the power that breathes the brightest life when the darkest death is upon me. I am the daughter of limit breaks, the goddess of power herself. I am the Remnants of a woman who has died a thousand times over, an ally of yours and a sister I must be reunited with once more. I am the Remnants of Rei Chikara, the many Remnants she has left behind. And now I must escape Tartarus. With your help, of course."


	32. The True Rei Chikara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who managed to somehow scrape together the willpower to write this even though I'm being bombarded with tests and essays and end-of-the-year stuff and finals and I barely have time to eat and sleep?!
> 
> This chapter came from a bunch of small prompts that I'd put together way back when I first started this entire series, and I'm not sure if it really became what I planned, so hey, editing may be a thing in the eventual future. Also, I just got into the Magnus Chase series (well, technically I'd started reading half of the first book and my fanfic writer within went crazy and I was like "No! Bad brain. Finish the HoO series first, finish the HoO series first, finish the-") and now I've got a plan for that story. But before that, BoO, Trials of Apollo/Kane Chronicles, and then Magnus Chase. I'll never stop. Mwahahahahahah.
> 
> Enjoy! :)

First Person: Zytaveon

The darkness was all-consuming.

Once, I'd had an oath to judge souls properly burnt upon my soul. It was like a hot iron on my heart - my skin, my muscle, my bones, none of it was there to protect me. This was even worse. Now, my body was still there, and it was being torn apart, molecule by molecule. I couldn't suffocate because my lungs no longer seemed to exist. I couldn't scream because I had no voice, no throat to produce any sound. I could barely think, let alone feel fear. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know there was anything  _to_  do.

Then the screaming of a thousand souls began.

They wailed in eternal agony and bade me to join them. I think that I did. I might have cried if I still had eyes to do so with. There was so much pain, so much despair, and so much rage. It all swept over me at once and I had no defense whatsoever in the sea of souls in pain. Without a body, I was left completely exposed.

" ** _You said you would save her. Are you really not worthy of my power?_** "

Something grabbed onto me harshly within all of the chaos, which was almost more painful than the overwhelming horrors of countless damned souls from the worst of the worst of the dead.

" ** _Then again, I suppose I myself cannot understand my own power - I cannot reach beyond my own limits, even when that is all that makes up my entire being._ " There was a scoff. " _But I have done it now, for the sake of my daughter. Though this is small recompense for what I did to her, I don't know what else I_ can _do._** "

Warmth flooded through me and my body tingled to life. You know how when you sit on your leg and then when you get up everything beyond that part of your leg tingles painfully? It was like that all over but a little stronger since  _my entire freaking body_  was being returned to me after I'd lost it. No biggie.

The winds of the souls around me faded to a cool breeze and I opened my eyes to realize I was standing in a field of flowers. I heard the sound of sobbing and turned around. In all directions was the field until the horizon faded away. The skies were cloudy but the area was bright. It wasn't until I had made an entire revolution before I finally spotted her: she was standing in the field wearing a simple dress of white that went just past her knees. In her hands, she held one of the blue flowers of the field tightly, her head down as her shoulders shook from sobbing. Her tears dripped to the petals of the flower in her hands, causing it to droop, but also shimmer.

"Lu?"

She began to raise her head, but then she staggered back with a gasp, as though she had been shot or stabbed from in front. It seemed to happen in slow motion. She began to fall backwards and I sprinted forward to catch her. The moment I touched her, the world shimmered and flashed. I felt as though I was dunked underwater, pushed to the bottom, only to come out of the water instead of hitting the bottom. I found myself staring at the flower she had been holding, but it was planted in a rectangular pot along with a dozen others.

"Papa, why no one else have pretty blues?"

I looked up and saw a small girl holding a stuffed poodle in her arms wearing a white dress gazing at the flowers. She looked familiar, a similar round face and curtain of black hair. She had bangs while teenage Lu had grown hers out to be near as long as the rest of her hair, but otherwise it was easy to see a resemblance.

"Because they're special," A voice said.

I raised my eyes and looked past the familiar little girl to see a man chuckling at her enthusiasm. His hair was a natural shade of blonde, his features Asian, and it took me a moment to realize that was Kandai, un-undead-ified. His skin was without cracks and much more natural rather than like porcelain, and it was a wonder how much nicer he looked when he had regular white sclera rather than black. He smiled at his daughter and went over to her, kneeling down to the small flowerbed beside her.

"They're from Japan."

"Daddy other home!"

He nodded. "Yup. But not only that, they're enchanted by the gods. Your mother gave it to me and I planted it. It then began to flourish."

"Flower-ish?"

"Flourish.  _Han'ei suru_. It means growing very well.  _Yoku seichō suru_.  _Wakarimasu ka?_  You understand?"

" _Yoku seichō suru_ , flourish," She repeated. " _Hai, Papa._ "

Kandai grabbed one of the flowers and pulled it free, tying it into little Lu's hair before picking her up. "Now, it's time for bed, Rei. You have school tomorrow."

"I no want school, Papa."

"Why not?"

She poked his nose. "No Papa. No Oodles." She poked the nose of her stuffed animal. "Lot of people say I…I…stran…stran-gay… _Karera wa watashi ga henda to iu!_ "

"Strange? Why would they say  _that_ , Flower?"

"Stran-ge," Rei repeated. "Wee-rid. They bad."

"You didn't tell them about us, did you?"

"We spay-cee-all.  _Tokushu_."

"How special did you say we were?"

"Papa heal all boo-boo, Mama is power."

"Mama is what?"

"Mama is power it…itse…itself!"

He chuckled with a fond yet slightly sad smile. "Yes. Your Mama is the goddess of power itself. We always used to say that. But you can't tell anyone else about that or why we're special."

"I no say 'goddess.' But why no special?"

"Because people could get hurt or they could be really,  _really_  bad to us."

"Why special equal bad?"

"Because…okay, you know how monsters come after us?"

She nodded. "We careful. Monster bad, give pain, stay with Papa so Papa make monster go bye."

He nodded. "Monsters want us because we're special. If other people know we're special, the monsters will come after  _them_ , but they don't have a Papa to make them go away."

Rei blinked. "No Papa?  _Sore wa yoi kotode wa arimasen_. Everyone need Papa."

I was no Japanese aficionado, but her Japanese seemed  _far_  superior to her English. For a child so young, her English seemed right on par, but she spoke significantly faster and more confidently when it came to when she switched languages. Then again, Lu  _had_  said something about having to learn English thanks to the goddess within her - she had learned a little bit of English, but she had also been distracted by other languages. She had learned some English while living in Britain with her dad, I think that was right. Now that I thought about it, both of them had a slight accent in their vowels, but that might have also been the Japanese in there mixed with the British.

"You have a Papa, but they don't, so you can't let them know you're special."

"Why no Papa? Like me no Mama?"

Kandai seemed to realize that he'd backed himself into a corner with a child that asked a  _lot_  of questions. He set her on the bed and sat beside her, tucking her in. "Some often have a Mama and a Papa, maybe just one or the other is present at the time-"

"Me!" Rei realized proudly.

"Like you," Kandai nodded. "But most other people don't have Mamas or Papas that are special. Special people have special Mamas and Papas, but they also have special threats like monsters. If they associate with special people like us, they may get the monsters without the protecting Mamas and Papas."

Rei's face crinkled in confusion. "Asso…asso-shi…"

"Associate…uh, be friends with.  _Nakama_."

Rei nodded. " _Nakama_."

I looked around the bedroom. The room was covered in pink, purple, with the occasional blue and white. There were toys scattered about the room, mostly stuffed animals with the occasional instrument. The bay window showed the dark night outside, the stars able to be seen. It took a second glance around the room, but I noticed that the home wasn't very modern. It looked Victorian - not exactly a mansion, but not something expected of anyone in the lower class. Then again, Kandai was both a man with fair skin and a doctor, something that was pretty helpful in those days. Sure he had distinct Asian features when it came to his eyes, but if you didn't look too closely he could easily pass for pretty average. Besides, his naturally blonde hair wasn't something that was often seen of someone from Asian descent, and with his half-godly nature, his human genes were probably repressed a bit.

"Go Papa! Do it!"

My attention was drawn again as Kandai appeared to have weaved his way out of the previous conversation and gotten Rei distracted. Kandai chuckled and leaned close to her as though they were sharing a secret. He snapped his fingers and the lamp on the nightstand blinked off, almost like it was choreographed in a play. He held his hand together like he had a ball between his palms and she giggled in excitement. Then, Dragon-Ball-Z style, an orb of energy formed, contained within his fingers.

Rei's laughter increased and she jumped for joy in her seat. "Yay!"

He moved his hands, circling them around the orb of light like it was some kind of magic fortune-telling crystal ball, before he flicked his wrist and sent it flying up to the ceiling. The moment it hit, the orb popped like a balloon, raining down small sparkles that floated like feathers, reminded me of Elsa's snow at the beginning of Frozen when she and Anna are playing around as children. Rei squeaked in excitement, throwing her arms out and giggling as the lights showered down around her, continuing to snow down the twinkles of yellow lights like stars. Her father picked her up and spun her around as they laughed together, and she smiled with pure delight that I couldn't imagine being on my Lu's face. I'd seen her happy before, I'd seen her amazed, but…never had I seen her  _this_  gleeful. It was hard for me to comprehend, but Lu had actually been a child at one point. She had had a loving father, and even without her mother, she could laugh with him, live and love him like a daughter should be able to.

" ** _This was the last night I could ever call myself a kid._** "

I looked around but the scene before me changed.

It seemed to be morning now, the dawn sky visible outside the bay window. Rei was sleeping in her bed, Kandai leaning over her.

He kissed her forehead. "I'll be back later, sweetie. Just gonna get a birthday present for you."

The little girl grunted in affirmation, probably wanting to be left in peace to sleep in and not really focusing on his words. He chuckled and kissed her forehead again before walking out. The room seemed to fade like a time lapse, one moment the young Rei was in bed at dawn, the next she was reading a children's book as the sun rose, the next she was eating macaroni and cheese from a Tupperware container that had been heated up from the kitchen, and then she was just lying on the floor with her stuffed poodle. The sun outside seemed to be on the verge of setting, pink sunlight flooding into the room.

"Papa will be back  _Pūdoru Oodles_."

Her anthropomorphic dog sat in front of her, slumped with one of those upside-down Y mouths that made it seem like it was unhappy. If you looked at it from the right angle, it seemed more impassive than unhappy, even  _surprised_  - since its eyes were round plastic semi-circles, its face in a constant state of ' _What is this thing in front of me?_ ' I realized it was wearing a purple dress that matched Rei's current pajama dress. Rei squeezed the poodle just on instinct as though it was just too cute for her to avoid doing so.

She poked its belly and made a high pitched and squeaky "Do!"

She picked up the poodle by its neck and made it walk around, each time it made a step chanting a light "Do, do, do, do," in the cute voice. It must've been her voice for the stuffed animal - like when a moogle said ' _Kupo_.' She set the poodle down in a sitting position again with a firm "Do" as though to say ' _I am done with this_.' It was an adorable scene and I almost forgot that I didn't know how or why I was here or what I was looking at.

The sound of a door unlocking in the distance got Rei's attention and she jumped up. "That Papa!  _Pūdoru_ come!"

She grabbed the stuffed animal in her arms and ran out of her bedroom. The scene shifted again and I was in their small kitchen as Rei carefully climbed down a set of stairs. I stood in the doorway watching as she finally made it to the bottom step and hurried to the door, only to slow to a stop when she saw someone that wasn't her dad walking in. She froze in confusion, hoping that her dad was behind him and this was all his idea, but another unfamiliar man came in next. Both were big and tall - especially compared to the little girl - and in suits worthy of the Men in Black. Finally a woman walked in and closed the door behind her. She was in black like the men, reminding me of the Turks from FFVII.

"Hello Rei."

The small girl froze up, unsure of how to handle strangers. Her dad always handled these things. She'd never heard about others coming over. Her father had warned her that certain strangers were very bad and she should always come and get him or stall and wait for him to find her if he wasn't present when she encountered one. He had said that to attempt to protect her from disguised monsters, but it would be a while before she ever fully understood that. It wouldn't do her any good now, because these weren't the kind of disguised monsters he had meant, yet they were just as scary.

"Don't worry, darling," The woman said. "Your father sent us to come get you."

I knew it was a lie, and little Rei knew it too as she squeezed her stuffed animal tightly. "Papa…?"

The woman gave a smile that just  _said_  she was tricking her. "Yes. We'll take you to him, don't worry."

The two men moved out of the way as she waved the little girl through the door. She looked at the three of them nervously, but they were adults and she was a child. What choice did she really have?

The world switched to Rei sprinting as fast as possible through the white halls of a building, making random turns and looking behind her in panic. She gripped her poodle tightly as her bare feet slapped the floor beneath her. She breathed hard as she ran as fast as she could, but I didn't see what was chasing her. I only heard it. There was the distinct sound of barking from Hellhounds that probably only could be identified properly by someone who's raised Hellhounds and trained them.

"Papa…Papa help me!"

Her Papa would always save her before, where was he now? She was all alone, wasn't she? And that thought terrified her more than the danger itself - facing it all alone. As the Hellhounds came into view, Rei sprinted faster, but she was still just a child, so her stride length and her limited muscles prevented her from going very fast even if she was abnormally strong. Her dress was grabbed from behind as she was pulled to a stop abruptly.

"No! Let go!"

She held her hand out and squeezed her eyes shut as there was a large flash of light from her entire body. The Hellhounds reeled from the shock and Rei got up to start running again. I didn't want to watch as the Hellhounds overtook her again. I had no control over where I went and I apparently wasn't able to move my body so that I might cover my ears.

There was a scream before the area suddenly exploded, and when I opened my eyes I saw Rei had taken on her near-death power up mode. I knew about it in theory, I'd seen her when she said she had just gotten her boost before, but never before had I seen it so…vigorous. Her eyes glowed pure white, her body glowed with an aura of pure energy. Her dress had been ripped from the Hellhounds, but though the fabric was soaked with blood she was completely free of any wounds or lacerations. And then there was how she was tearing the Hellhounds apart with her bare hands, burning them with her touch and activating her fingers to spark with electricity and fire off literal lightning bolts that would've deafened me had I been there in reality. Her screams of rage were mixed with sobs accompanying every attack. In moments, she was the only one left standing, breathing hard as she realized there was nothing left to kill.

Slowly coming down from her power high, she looked down and started sobbing. I realized what she was looking at: her stuffed poodle had been torn apart. She kneeled and put its arms and head back into place, stuffing its stuffing into its body as her hands glowed.

"Fix! Heal!" She ordered.

I realized she was trying to use her healing powers to fix her stuffed companion - the only one she had left by her side through this terrible ordeal. But it wasn't an organic being, it couldn't be healed that way.

"We find Papa," Rei urged. "Need you help find Papa!  _Onegaishimasu_ _Pūdoru!_  Oodles wake! Papa said English name Oodles, Japanese  _Pūdoru_. Oodles wake!"

As if it needed to be a little more tear-jerking, her father was the one that gave her stuffed animal the name 'Oodles' instead of just plain old 'Poodle.'

After a moment, her poodle suddenly began to change. It began to shift ever so slightly, and then I looked closely, trying to figure out what was happening, but only figured it out once the fake eyes of the toy blinked. The thing didn't even have eyelids! But it was unmistakable: the little beads on the stuffed animal's eyes blinked again. Then again. It happened quickly enough that I couldn't tell you how it happened, but it was.

"Hades…she did it."

Rei seemed to realize this fact too because she gasped and hugged her poodle tight. It didn't reciprocate - mainly because its small arms were incapable of wrapping around their owner, but it still blinked with what I assumed was gratitude. Granted its face still looked shocked and confused but rolling with it. It was a 'Well okay then' face.

"We find Papa now," Rei declared.

She stood up and began to walk away, but after a few steps her legs gave out from under her and she collapsed in a heap, her poodle falling on the floor beside her. To my…well, not exactly  _surprise_  but  _curiosity_ , the poodle picked itself up and wobbled on its two feet, adjusting to the new feeling of being alive. I was wondering if blinking was its only upgrade, but no, it could move.

"Do?" It asked in its squished voice.

"Ugggggh," She groaned in response.

"Do." The poodle grabbed her arm and lifted it up over its shoulder - a very difficult task for a creature with no fingers - but it collapsed under the weight with a choked "Do-!"

The sound of footsteps came closer, a large group, and the poodle looked back behind the two of them. When they were approached, the poodle went limp, still blinking, but unmoving as they were both taken away.

"I want Oodles!  _Fakku!_  My  _Pūdoru_ , no your!"

A smile tugged at my face even with seeing what I had as she pinched a man attempting to talk with her - wearing an insulating plastic outfit - but it didn't save him from getting a burn from her glowing red fingers that melted the plastic to his skin. The fear behind his plastic mask of a 5-year-old having a demigod tantrum was enough to spark laughter. The stuffed poodle was promptly returned to her after that, which seemed to keep her calm.

The scene shifted to a store as a little Rei snuck around and grabbed some children's clothes. She hurried out the door, a man at the counter noticing her and running around to sprint after her, but by the time he got out the door, she was gone. She was running through the streets on her own, never with enough food, never with enough warmth, never with enough love. She made friends with people who respected her and people she respected, but in the end all of them left or were taken. What she didn't know, was that she had never  _truly_  escaped. She was brought to Ward X often for testing - which basically meant they killed her in new and improved ways, sometimes just for fun, and then they left her back where they'd found her with no memory of the events. She had nightmares of her captivity and deaths, but they were just dreams to her.

But on one of her captive trips, she ended up meeting a boy. She ended up staying longer than intended, spending the night with Kaze talking after they'd gotten over their initial untrustworthy bump. Then, they escaped. All on their own, not planned, and they did it together. But the day that a Primordial came to her with nowhere else to go, she was given it all back. Over a thousand deaths, hundreds of years that she hadn't realized had passed before her eyes, enough power to rip apart everything that she was. But then it all drained away. She knew the truth of her past, but she couldn't feel what she should anymore. Everything was so chaotic that it blurred together into calm, leaving her with nothing.

" _Onesan? Onesan,_ _teishi shite kudasai!_ "

Rei, beaten and battered from a fight with her power-mode activated at a new height thanks to her new godly powers, pinned down Kaze with one hand around his throat, straddling him so his legs couldn't hit her and his arms were struggling to pull grip Rei's wrist since the rest of her was physically out of reach to punch. With her free hand she raised a fancy dagger with a black blade that almost seemed to swirl and shift that was decorated with glowing red accents that seemed to pulse like a heartbeat. She raised it high above her head before bringing the blade down upon Kaze's face, aiming right for his eye. The weapon came to a halt millimeters from his eye, the red veins upon the weapon pulsing downwards before Kaze's eye began to bleed red, his sclera turning black before dark veins expanded from his eye. Kaze screamed and struggled, but she held him down with ease as though she weighed ten tons and he was trapped beneath. His skin seeped black smoke that began to consume him, and a moment later as it dispersed, Kaze was gone and Rei was left kneeling on the ground without him.

"What happened?" Rei asked.

" _He was consumed_ ," Another voice answered, using her mouth.

"Consumed? You mean he failed?"

" _No. It appears he was not compatible in the first place._ "

Rei had been told by the goddess that Kaze was. She should feel betrayed and angered, the only person she had left in her life lost to her for no good reason. But at the moment, she felt nothing. She would feel nothing because she had passed the trials of Order. She could be happy and confident, but all it could ever be was an act. Order took her to America where the next potential host for Chaos was.

"That is the one then?" Rei asked.

" _Yes. A son of Hades. How appropriate._ "

Rei sighed and walked into the busy classroom of kids mingling, greeting their old friends and meeting new ones. "This better be worth the process of having adopted parents and dealing with actual people."

" _I agree, people are very tiresome, but enjoy the control you have while you have the chance._ "

"Enjoy? That sounds very unlike you to allow that."

" _Well, perhaps I'm simply in the mood to be benevolent. Or perhaps I'm simply bored enough to be benevolent._ "

"Now  _that_  sounds a lot like you."

She made her way around the edges of the room before she spotted her target: a younger and more reserved me that tried to interact with people but realized how tiring it was and just gave up. All of the desks in the room were made for two people each, and everyone else had either found a partner or had dropped their things in a place where they'd sit and were over somewhere else speaking to their friends, but I had no partner. She set her bag on the floor next to the seat beside younger me and plopped down in the seat to my younger self's surprise.

"Hello. I'm…" She looked to the side in thought for a moment. "Oh, Lucy. I'm Lucy. What's your name, kid?"

I remembered that I'd been reluctant to introduce myself because my name was so dumb and unnatural compared to the rest of the world and she would probably laugh. The great thing about being able to visit the Underworld when you wanted was that the ghosts and dead zombies didn't judge you when you were a prince who could control and condemn them when you wanted - or at the very least complain to them to your dad. Actual people were so much harder to deal with when you couldn't control them at will.

She sighed at my old self's silence. "Well, this is going great so far. So what are your thoughts on the Greek pantheon?"

" _Oh, don't say that, you idiot. Subtly, sweetheart._ "

"Okay, fine, we'll do it subtly and take our time."

And so began the awkward silence of half a year sitting next to each other in class and not talking to each other. We slowly started to interact as we realized we were in the same class and we had mutual friends in Audrey and Emily - who somehow were friends with practically everyone who they came into contact with, a trait that neither of us had separately. Slowly but surely, the Primordial within her was growing weaker and she began to act more human. Before long, the two of us were becoming normal friends.

"You look better when you smile, you know," Younger me said casually.

She blinked in surprise while younger me mentally stabbed himself for saying that aloud, but then a smile crept across her face. "You should take your own advice. You're not so bad yourself, you know."

"Oh…um…thanks."

"Yeah…sure. I mean, it's  _true_  and…all…that."

Wow we were bad at this.

"We should probably stop while we're ahead."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

Well, at least we acknowledge it.

"There are hardly  _any_  snacks," Past me complained, standing beside Lu in a large room with flashing lights, loud music, and a lot of people.

"Prom is  _not_  what I expected it'd be," She agreed.

"This is so not worth going as Sophomores," Lu agreed. "We should've just gone normally as Juniors and Seniors. And now we have to pay back the guys who bought tickets for us."

"They're in the drama club. They're nice. I don't mind."

"Yeah, sure, but I feel bad about using up their second tickets when we could've just not come here. Juniors and Seniors can only buy two tickets at most, and their Prom dates had to get in that long ass line all on their own."

"True enough. Now where did Emily and Audrey go?"

"They're…uh, somewhere in the jumping crowd with a population density greater than China." She took past me's hand. "Come on. Let's find them and try not to lose each other in the process."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not letting go. I-I mean because we should…really stay together…and…stuff."

"Shh, just don't say anything. We acknowledge it silently and assume the other does too."

"A great thing to base a relationship on. I mean,  _any_  relationship in  _general_ , not necessarily a…I'ma stop talking now."

She laughed.

The scene switched to her standing in the girl's bathroom alone (it wasn't anything special compared to the men's restroom, all though that did kinda matter on which bathroom we were talking about because sometimes there was a  _big_  difference) staring at the mirror.

"I'm not saying that it's a  _bad_  plan, but why should we have to guard over a bunch of demigods so that they can fulfill a prophecy when we can do it a lot easier and a lot better and a lot quicker ourselves?"

Her reflection in the mirror shrugged. " _I don't really care much about humans and all that junk. Usually I stay completely out of things and let the world go forward on its own. I like a good story and all. It's just that this time, my husband and I are at risk, and if we get eliminated, everything gets destroyed, and I care enough about this world to make sure that it keeps turning for a little longer. I can handle a post-apocalyptic world ruled by an evil dictator because it always opens the door for a rebellion and a restart to society and all that, but complete destruction goes just a_ bit _too far._ "

Lu frowned. "Gee, thanks for that pep talk."

" _You've met some of the other gods before, sweetheart. You should know that the apple_ never _falls far from the tree._ "

"I guess I  _really_  shouldn't have expected less."

" _Now, you're going to have to prepare to fight a hydra during lunch today and then you and your friends can head over to Camp Half-Blood._ "

"Wait,  _what?_  I've got a  _math_  test to study for right after lunch!"

Her reflection frowned. " _You have the infinite knowledge of the eldest creatures in existence within your mind._ "

"I am  _proud_  of my knowledge of the unit circle. Besides, Zyanya, I can't  _access_  your infinite knowledge without needing to take a chill pill to avoid blowing up."

" _A chill_ injection _,_ " Zyanya corrected. " _But I don't see how that relates to the point. We have a hydra, you gonna have to save your little boyfriend and his brother._ "

"You're making it  _really_  hard to want to help you when you treat him like the meat-bag that he is."

" _Darling, you're_ all _meat-bags in my eyes. Keep the meat-bag alive and I get my husband back. That's all I care about._ "

"You ever think that maybe he's got this thing called a personality and a kind soul and-"

" _And nice eyes and very kissable lips. Yes, I've thought about it_ very _much, and I think Chaos will look_ very _hand_ _some in him._ "

"If I weren't so concerned about destroying public property, I'd break this mirror right now to try and punch you in the face."

Zyanya blinked. " _Go ahead, my dear. I'm in your head. I won't even feel it._ "

"Oh, so I should go get a concussion? Because that hydra sounds  _very_  tempting at the moment."

" _Don't be so childish. You'd need_ way _more than a_ hydra _to get a concussion. Your head is like an impenetrable wall of pure crazy. There's no getting through_ that."

"Bite me."

" _That's your boyfriend's job, sweetheart._ "

She reared back and punched the mirror. "This better work, you son of a…well, you're not the child of anything, but point stands. He deserves better than to share Kaze's fate."

Her shattered reflection waved its arm passively. " _He won't be another Kaze, I promise. I did my homework._ "

She narrowed her eyes. "I sincerely hope so. Because if not, I will murder you myself."

" _Aw, and you say that like you actually care about him._ "

She snorted and turned to leave the bathroom. In the shattered remains of the mirror, her reflection remained standing there.

" _I'm still here you know!_ " Zyanya called. " _Ah, she's so much like me that it's painful._ "

The scene switched to complete blackness, wind whooshing past as I realized that I was falling. I couldn't see anything above, around, or below me, but I was able to hear a light whisper through the chaotic breeze.

"We do it our way…" Lu whispered to nothingness as she fell to Tartarus.

" _What a pitiful sight._ "

The wind stopped, but I was still in complete blackness. The me that was a Primordial - though at this point I couldn't tell which one - stood a few feet away with his arms crossed.

" _My love was always cruel, but sometimes even I find it hard to witness._ "

"What?"

" _Love between our hosts that was never meant to be. She brought you together to love each other, and she enjoys the fact that it will fall apart in the end._ "

"Why would it fall apart?"

" _Because soon you will realize you will never love each other because you will never be us. We can love, we shall take from you every sense of emotion and sense of being. Can you really bear that burden?_ "

"Never know until you try, am I right?"

" _So cheeky. But tell me: what is it you desire most?_ "

He reached out faster than I could comprehend and grabbed my face. My vision went black as I struggled to breathe and a life flashed before my eyes - not mine, but a pretty nice one. All of my friends were there. We laughed and complained about life together, we worked on school stuff and worked on training our powers. I usually sought out Lu whenever we were in the same room together, I started holding her hand even when I didn't need to, we would stay up for hours talking to each other, we wondered how long it would take everyone to notice the rings, we wondered how long it would take to convince them that we weren't having a wedding, and then they wondered how long it would take to convince us that yes we were. We grew up, a rare thing when you're a demigod. We made bets on if Kaze was going to make a move or if we'd have to shove him together with the guy he liked. Lu was slowly beginning to reconnect with her father after the years they'd lost, we were all trying to make sure Tsuchi didn't murder everyone and get into too much trouble. We watched the members of the seven split up after the prophecy was over, getting lives, getting jobs, getting educations, having their own families. We hoped that all of our friends would live happy lives together, we would make peace between the camps, we would make peace between the different religions even - Greco-Roman, Norse, Egyptian, Babylonian, and even more obscure names in history. We would grow old, we would die, and we would do it knowing we'd made the world better.

The Primordial dropped me and I gasped for breath.

" _I see. How very noble of you. But that is not what your future holds._ "

"I  _know_  that. You think I'm a fool?"

" _I think…you're an interesting creature. An ethereal beast, a grotesque angel._ "

"Gee, thanks."

" _Congratulations. Your soul has passed._ "

"Passed what?"

" _Everything. What none has ever done before, Zytaveon: you have won my favor as well as Order's. Now, you shall pay the price for it._ "

"What? Hey, I never  _asked_ -"

Everything exploded. That's the only way to describe what happened. The world faded, pain ensued, I felt like my brain was being sucked out of my head with a straw and I quickly began to lose consciousness.

" _When do we_ ever _ask for anything to happen, Zytaveon?_ "

"Actually a lot," I choked out.

He shrugged. " _But when do we ever get what we ask for?_ "

"Now  _there_  you have a point…"

And I blacked out.

* * *

First Person: Rei

"We should get a puppy."

"We're not getting a puppy, Veon."

"But… _puppy!_ "

"We  _cannot_  raise a puppy when we have demigods to deal with as well as Calculus.  _Calculus_ , Zytaveon."

"Puppies, Lunafreya."

I flicked him in the forehead at the nickname. Since his full name was four syllables and mine was two at the very most, he decided to use 'Lunafreya' from Final Fantasy 15 since her name was four syllables. The story went as such: "It was the first thing that came to mind and went out of my mouth before I could stop it, okay?" It was moments like these that I cherished.

"Don't you Lunafreya me. Now come on. Audrey's expecting us at her place in half an hour."

"Emily's becoming a  _vet_ , Lu! Who  _else_  would you trust with our puppies - our  _children?!_ "

I couldn't help but chuckle as we hopped into the car. "She won't be a vet until she goes through all those years of college and gets her degree."

"And  _then_  we can get a puppy."

"I'll think about it. And I  _swear_ , if you bring a Hellhound home one day saying it was abandoned and all alone, I will send it back to the Underworld the hard way."

He gasped. "HOW DARE YOU THREATEN MY BABIES?!"

"Because I don't want them becoming  _my_  babies."

"You are cruel. Just cruel."

" _I_  am practical. Unlike you."

"We can take down gods and giants and Primordials and we're supposed to be  _practical?_ "

"As practical as we can be."

The rest of the drive consisted of warm banter just like that, which I found myself enjoying.

" ** _What are you doing?_** "

"Huh?"

"What?" Ve asked. "You say something?"

"Thought  _you_  said something."

"Not  _me._ "

" ** _You love him?_** "

Love?

" ** _Oh my dear. You haven't felt love in a long time, have you?_** "

"We're here," I announced, pulling the car into the driveway as my hands shook.

" ** _Who are you?_** " I thought to the voice in my head.

" ** _You really don't know? Perhaps you aren't as perceptive as I thought._** "

"I know  _Audrey_  would agree about puppies," Veon said as he stepped out of the car. "Come on, we're settling this debate right now."

I nodded blankly and followed him inside. Suddenly, I felt disquieted for reasons I couldn't quite comprehend. The day was still sunny, Audrey's house in the suburbs was cozy. But suddenly, the day felt more eerie than usual. There was something I was missing, something right on the tip of my tongue, right in the corner of my eye, right in the front of my brain, something that I couldn't get a grasp on.

"You know that puppies eventually grow into  _dogs_ , right?"

"Yeah, but if we get a small breed and particularly a girl, she'd be small forever."

"True enough, but when would you find the time to raise her?"

"Every day. Every. Day."

"Between fighting for your life and training others to fight for their lives and your dad giving you the occasional job and trying to get a job in the real world as well as an education."

"Puppies are my therapy to living life, Audrey."

"Don't you raise Hellhounds?"

"Occasionally, but they have behavioral issues. Not everyone's a Mrs. O'Leary. Come on, Lu, just  _one?_ "

" ** _Love. You love him, don't you? Enough to fall apart at the idea of losing him just as you've lost everyone else._** "

I felt a clenching in my chest, a twisting in my stomach. I was worried about his opinion of me, about not looking like an idiot. I liked it too much when he smiled and laughed. I couldn't believe he tolerated my bullshit, and whenever I said something that could be taken the wrong way or was more offensive than I had intended it to be, I always worried he would think one day that maybe he should hang out with someone else, or avoid talking to the girl in his friend group that seemed to have no filter. What were we to each other but strangers? I was never me, not in all our time together, was I? I lived without emotion or reserve during our early days, I lived thinking love was out of my reach, and that my understanding of love was sound enough to know what was love and what was simply Order's desire for Veon to save her husband.

"You okay?" He asked.

I smiled. "Fine, fine."

So I did what I always did. I pushed the feelings down, smothered them to trick myself into believing that they meant nothing, or that I had them under control. Because I'd learned young that if you let your emotions show, people use that against you. Friends could tease and taunt me about how I feel about Veon, but though they mean no harm, it hurts me, crushes my spirit and makes me want to prove them wrong. I don't want to have that weakness, that distraction that can hurt me so much. Was it embarrassment? Was it my pride? Was it my fear? Either way, it was how I was, and there was nothing to be done.

" ** _You love but can never love. How tragic._** "

" ** _Would you shut up or at least tell me who you are?_** " I demanded.

" ** _I can give you what you desire, free you from the prison of your life._** "

"You wanna go get some lunch?"

I looked around, but Audrey had gone to the front door to greet Emily.

"With Audrey and Emily?"

He shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Is it wrong to want a little one-on-one time away from them? It's just a meal. They can get their own, and we'll see them plenty later. Besides, maybe I want to just talk to you, get to know you better. We rarely get alone time. I wouldn't protest to a little right now. Especially with you."

I felt that knot in my stomach take hold and twist my gut. "Sure. Why not?"

I can't imagine life without him, I don't want to. But I also know that one day he might not be there. There's no guarantee of anything in this world, even if we weren't demigods. But we are, and the risk of losing everything, having my heart crushed by him dying or getting hurt…that scares me. I don't want to feel the hurt and worry that comes with the comfort and care from allowing myself to love.

He got into the driver's seat this time, as I told him that he could choose where to go.

" ** _You are not human. You can never_ be _human. I can help you though. I can give you the life you deserve._** "

" ** _I'm completely_ fine _on my own, thank you very much._** "

" ** _Really?_** "

A sharp pain shot through my head as I suddenly saw a million deaths flash through my mind. My throat ached from screaming, my entire body was sore, my head pounded, and my chest ached from a constant emotional stab. Then, suddenly, it was over.

"You okay?" Veon asked.

"Yeah, yeah…just a sudden migraine."

"Getting car sick? I can pull over."

"No, no. I'm fine now. I think I'm just hungry."

He shrugged. "Okay. But tell me if you're feeling out of it, all right?"

" ** _Just so you know, it wasn't a million. It was just a thousand, give or take._** "

" ** _A thousand deaths?_** "

" ** _And that was just scratching the surface._** "

Another mind pain came through, this time showing me countless goodbyes - friends and family who were taken from me because of my own helplessness. I was always the survivor, always the one who lived when so many others deserved to live in my place. Then, I  _did_  die. I gave away everything I was and the person that was once known as Rei was gone. I died a long time ago, I am just an empty shell left for the gods to play with.

I sat down beside him at the table at the restaurant. "I am totally hungry for a sandwich."

"Me too. And tea."

"Sweet tea?"

"Totally. Screw health class, I want me some sweet tea."

"Think there are pickles on this?"

"They never list the ingredients, and you can never be sure. We'll just pick them off if it does."

"Sounds like a plan."

" ** _Witness all that was taken from you, witness the love you were so wrongfully denied._** "

We're so alike in our likes and dislikes. We don't have to go through the awkward transition from friends to dating. One might already think we were based on first impressions alone. Heck, Audrey and Emily have been shipping us since we met in 9th grade two years ago. We're both loud and eccentric, but shy and reserved in our own ways. It was a friendship I couldn't live without. But was it really  _love?_

" ** _You've never loved someone that wasn't your family, have you? You've never known a love that transcended blood or obligation, a love beyond friendship and brotherhood._** "

Seeing his face made my heart skip a beat. Just knowing he was close enough to be looking at me caused me to shift nervously, wondering if he was judging my moves and trying to act normal. I tried not to stare at his face, framed perfectly by his black hair. His expressions made my face heat up, and I wondered if I was blushing. I tried to shove my nerves down like I did with all of her emotions, but for some reason I couldn't get rid of it completely, just swallow it a bit lower. Was this how he'd always been? Had I always felt this way about him? Why had I never noticed this until now? The answer was simple: because I refused to allow myself to feel anything for so long. A life of survival of the fittest, always being used or abandoned hurt my personality so much that I had no idea how to properly love.

Now, in this world, I was no longer able to bury my emotions, I didn't  _have_  to. It made me realize how terrible I had really been when it came to loving Veon before. I knew I couldn't stand it if he were to die, but even that feeling had been muffled before, blocking the concern for him so that I wouldn't be as hurt if something  _did_  happen.

" ** _Is this…a life that…I_ want?**"

" ** _It's what your heart desires, no?_** "

" ** _I think…maybe…_** "

" ** _You don't sound sure._** "

"I gotta go soon. Dad's expecting my help back in the Underworld, and we can't let Neeks have all the fun."

"Oh, yeah. Obviously the mighty Soul King is needed."

He chuckled. "Cool name. I don't think Dad would allow it to be a thing. The Ghost King is bad enough."

"Huh?"

" ** _Ah, Soul King. Merely a word Chaos invented, a title she bestowed upon him in light of his true destiny. He would be the host of Chaos itself, a host to what souls come from and what they will always return to. What makes time and fate itself. That is what it means to host Chaos. How cute._** "

"But don't worry. I've got about an hour or so. Until then, I'm all yours."

Something about that prospect made me relax and a knot in my stomach relax. Veon leaving wasn't such a big deal, was it? I mean, he'd always be back, I knew he could handle himself. It was the prospect of loving and losing that hurt so much. I knew what it meant to hate the emptiness left behind by a loss of love, and it scarred me, it did. But it also was… _nice_  in a way. It was emotional pain, and I was that weird person that needed pain in my life to feel like I was alive. I mean, when you were basically immortal because no amount of pain could kill you, becoming suicidal was entirely an option. But I didn't  _want_  death. I wanted  _life_. I wanted to be able to live a life. Maybe this was the life I wanted, maybe it wasn't. I needed a balance between danger and peace, life and death, me and the people I cared for.

" ** _You were right. I've never known love before, not_ true _love, and if I ever have, it's been too long for me to remember. But a life of complete peace…that's not me, is it? My life has been ruined, and there's no joy I can have from peace. I may_ never _get a life that I want, I may never get the death I crave. That's part of my life - imperfections. And that's what makes it perfect. If I am to learn to live, it will not be a fantasy such as this._** "

I held my hand up and the world bent to my will. It was as though I'd always been able to do this, as though I was  _born_  with this power.

"I love you, Veon. But you are not Veon."

Thunder rained down from the skies, Order's white blade appeared in one hand and Chaos's black one in the other, two matching sleek weapons as long as I was tall and shimmering with auras of power. I hadn't been able to summon these ever since the Primordials began to weaken. But now, I felt more powerful than I had in ages. Veon disappeared,  _everyone_  did. The entire world began to slowly fall apart. The buildings crumbled to dust, the skies darkened with clouds and thunder crashed above, the winds howled around me, the earth shook and began to crack. But I was affected by none of it.

"That was the key, wasn't it, Chaos? Choosing my own happiness, realizing that I would never have  _true_ happiness. My dreams and wishes and fantasies, they're foolish, because they'll never be what I want."

" ** _Oh no._** "

Lightning struck in front of me, revealing Zytaveon once more, but his eyes were now completely black. When he spoke, his voice was not his, and it boomed out as though it was coming from everywhere around me, the world a speaker projecting his voice.

" _Chaos's trials are very sentimental. She looks for people with good hearts and stuff, the determination to remain pure to your heart - no matter if the purity comes from pure good or evil, just so long as you are being true to yourself and will never waver from your cause. Order, meanwhile, represents going against all of your beliefs and rethinking who you are, becoming the things you hate and coping with your worst nightmares. Change and resolve, openness and rejection._ "

"So democrats and republicans."

He frowned. It appears I managed to make a Primordial give a ' _WTF_ ' face. Now that was an accomplishment right there.

" _Yes, like democrats and republicans,_ " He conceded. " _They work well together in being in opposition, making sure that only things they agree upon completely are those that their society truly needs, but they're going to destroy this world one day, honestly._ "

"I know, right? Politics, am I right."

He shook his head. " _We're getting off topic! You, my dear, are very flippant in your beliefs, but that's mostly because you've never had beliefs that were your own before. Even now you haven't found a path in life, but you know where_ not _to go, which is always a start. You have potential for Order and Chaos both, but at the same time, there is so much…_ noise _going on inside you as well. Not like Zytaveon. He's a simple blank slate, his heart pure enough to be one way or the other. You are a blank slate as well, but you're like a whiteboard that's had a bunch of really heavy markers used on it and you've got smudges all over you that make it so you're not_ completely _blank._ "

"That is  _so_  annoying!"

" _I_ know _, right?! Anyway, that's basically you. You're still open to be written on and your path before you has yet to be set in stone, but you're sullied. You are blank, but not clean. There's no predicting what you'll become._ "

"So what did coming here accomplish?"

" _Oh, I was just trying to save all of you from Tartarus. It didn't work too well. I'm not very used to this whole thing with…you know,_ existence _._ "

"Who  _are_  you, if not Order, not Chaos, not Tartarus?"

He scratched his cheek as he seemed to look to the side in thought (it was hard to tell since he had no pupils). " _I'm…nothing, really. I'm completely nothing. Oh! Your people made a word for me! A pretty shaky interpretation, but close enough. I'm the Empty._ "

"From Supernatural you mean. Like the thing that came before God and Amara."

He snapped. " _Right. Except replace God and Amara with Order and Chaos and then make me a bit less competent and less bitchy._ "

"Uh…cool?"

" _I'm new at this whole existence thing, like I said, but Order and Chaos were being threatened, the poor things, and after a while it was clear that things weren't going well. If Order and Chaos cease to exist, so too will the universe they created. And I like having the universe there. There are good parts and bad parts and weird parts, but it's been a constant presence for a while and I like to watch it sometimes._ "

"So Order and Chaos are like your OTP and the rest of us are just a bunch of ships and stories and TV shows?"

He clicked his tongue and pointed at me with a smile. " _Exactly. I'm using your mind right now to take form and be up to date on your language, your culture, etc. So in the terms of a fiction fandom nerd, you've described it perfectly._ "

"But…if you're more powerful than Order  _and_  Chaos, how am I still here and not…blowing up?"

" _I've just put a_ little _of me in you, sweetie. I'm not an_ idiot _. Think of it this way: if I took all of the water on your planet that has ever existed - including the stuff that's been consumed through the years - and then compare that to a hydrogen atom. That would probably be enough of my power to blow you up._ "

"Um…thanks for knowing how to not blow me up."

" _It's my pleasure. But enough of the rambling. You've got things to do, and I can't hold you this long with so little power. It's like holding your breath when you're focusing hard on something important - I'm gonna burst any second and you'll be popped like a human balloon - body and soul._ "

"Ew."

" _I know, right? Anyway, hope you survive. I'll be rooting for you on the sidelines. If you don't make it…I'll preserve your stories in my mind for eternity. This is the best show that's happened for_ ages _, honestly._ "

He snapped and energy seemed to punch me in the chest like one of my power bursts, just a little more painful and overwhelming.

I heard Veon screaming. I couldn't tell where it was coming from, I didn't even know if I was awake, if I had a body or not. I could barely think straight at all, like a dream of what every molecule in your body exploding felt like. Gods, did Empty (we should totally give it a name) really mess it up and actually blow me up?

" ** _They are vying for his body and soul, fighting for his power and his heart._** "

"Who?!" I screamed, surprised to find that my voice still worked.

" ** _All three of them. The Pit has one, he hopes to hold both within his grasp so that nothing can stop him._** "

"He holds  _one?_ "

" ** _He holds_ you _._** "

I was suddenly thrown forward and found myself waking up in a cabin. It took me a moment to orient myself, realizing that I had a physical body again and that I was breathing hard. I wasn't in Tartarus. I was on the Argo II.

"Veon…they have him…oh  _gods_  they have him…"

"Who?"

I jumped as I realized that Nico was on the edge of the bed, holding himself defensively - probably from my sudden appearance. I realized that I was in Nico and Veon's room, thanks to Veon and I switching places again. But I had simply disappeared from the edge of the cliff to Chaos. Veon would not appear there. He was being ripped apart right now, and I was left all alone.

"He saved me, that  _idiot_ , and now he's down there all  _alone!_ "

"In Tartarus?" Nico clarified.

I shook my head. "Worse than that. In the void between Tartarus, Chaos, and Order. They all want him, they're tearing him apart. That prophecy…that  _stupid_  prophecy that I'd ignored and barely given any thought to, what we'd  _all_  willfully ignored."

 _Child of Hades, Beware the pit. Should you fall, you will be one with it. Live in darkness, feel their pain. Know all you do will be in vain. The dead shall scream, the living shall fall, until you hear the final call_.

"The final call…"

"Do you know what it is? That line from the prophecy given to Veon?"

I looked up at Nico, suddenly seeing so much of Veon in his eyes. I was human again, I realized. I was mortal in a way I hadn't been for a very,  _very_  long time. With that feeling came hope and dread, clarity replacing a mind that was once mired in fog. There was painful truth to face, as well as a beautiful hope hidden deep within the despair.

"How long until we reach the House of Hades?"

"I don't know. We've been held up with this wind god - I think it's the South Wind. Jason's been going in for regular meetings and stuff, but…"

"I'm going on the next one. We're getting a move on. Whether the South Wind likes it or not. Because I think I know what the final call is. And we're going to need to hurry if we want to get it to Veon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:
> 
> (If wanting to Google Translate to check my work, use the Kanji not the English Romanji - the symbols not the English letters)
> 
> 'Han'ei suru' (繁栄する) - Flourish/thrive
> 
> 'Yoku seichō suru' (よく成長する) - Grow well
> 
> 'Wakarimasu ka?' (わかりますか？) - Do you understand?
> 
> 'Karera wa watashi ga henda to iu' (彼らは私が変だと言う) - They say that I am strange!
> 
> 'Tokushu' (特殊) - Special
> 
> 'Sore wa yoi kotode wa arimasen' (それは良いことではありません) - That is not a good thing
> 
> 'Nakama' (仲間) - Friend
> 
> 'Pūdoru' (プードル) - Poodle
> 
> 'Onegaishimasu' (お願いします) - Please
> 
> 'Fakku' (ファック！) - That which I shall not translate because we T not M but you can probably guess
> 
> 'Teishi shite kudasai!' (停止してください！) - Please stop!


	33. Find Your Path Before You Follow It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been so long since I've updated, so many apologies, working on literally all of my stories. A lot of this part of the book is setting things up for the ending and therefore it's a lot of filler parts where I try to get my head together and remember the story is a thing.
> 
> So in return for my absence and the lack of truly interesting stuff, I'm posting three chapters. Triple update hype!
> 
> We've gotta finish this book friends. Let's do it!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> :)

First Person: Rei

"I will ask you  _one more time_. Where on this  _Primordial-forsaken goddess_  is - my - brother?"

"We don't  _know_ ," Audrey insisted. "He left with Tsuchi and Kandai in return for saving Em and Azrael."

"And who the  _flip_  is Azrael supposed to be?"

She rubbed the back of her head. "Well…he's a demigod that we rescued, Em says that Kaze said that he's from a Ward K in Germany, and he's so far shown to be able to hop into some kind of Veil which allows him to pass time slower than in the real world - so like five minutes for him is actually  _hours_  for us. Kaze thinks it's related to this vision that Cupid gave him-"

"Wait, wait,  _Cupid?_ "

"Oh, yeah, Veon went to meet him after you guys switched again."

"By all the gods, I wasn't gone for  _that_  long, was I?"

"Well…"

* * *

"So you died, Reyna's coming to meet us, Octavian's an idiot, Cupid's a jerk, Favonius has a basket of unripe fruit, we've got a dead dude's scepter, Kaze saw a vision of his parents' history and then a vision of someone he would come to love in the future who might just be Azrael, and so he sacrificed himself to Gaea to make sure he was safe, Leo got thrown into the sky, Emily's pin can make her invisible, Azrael killed Khione - thank the gods who care about us for that - but not before a wind bomb blew us way off course. Meanwhile, you died and came back with some of my Remnants."

"Is  _that_  what they're called?"

"They're the living dead embodiments of every death that I've ever had throughout my life who are trying to escape Tartarus right now and who are merging with my Curses to gain presence in the physical world right now. I hear some of them are haunting Octavian for fun, but I suppose they're clinging to  _you_  in order to climb free on their own. They're basically zombies, some of them jumped the gun and must've left before No. 1."

"You mean you  _met_  these Remnants before you disappeared?"

I thought back. "No…actually…I don't know how I know that…"

She sighed. "Well, weirder things have happened. With all your primordial power in the bag, I wouldn't be surprised if you suddenly woke up with all the secrets of the universe in your head. Anyway, you can meet Azrael later, but if you wanna catch Jason before he heads to his meeting with the South Wind, you should go up there now."

I nodded. "Right." I headed to the door of her room, but I paused. "Audrey…you haven't been seeing the Remnants, have you?"

"In what way?"

"They have the power of every death I've ever suffered, and thanks to the Primordials, I can now remember most if not all of those deaths. And…it's a weight on your chest that's more painful than anything. It's enough to break a normal person's mind."

She gave a smile. "Well, good thing I'm not that normal, huh?"

Even as she said that, she fiddled with her necklace dagger - a weapon she always kept close and on her as a last resort if all of her other weapons were lost. It was a sign of desperation, of paranoia that she was going to lose a fight.

I nodded just slightly. "Right."

* * *

The air was so hot and dry, it sucked the moisture right out of my lungs. A hundred feet below, the bay glittered against a crescent of red sand beach. We were somewhere on the northern coast of Africa, or so the wind spirits that told the crew before I arrived which they passed on to me. The palace of the South Wind stretched out on either side of me - a honeycomb of halls and tunnels, balconies, colonnades, and cavernous rooms carved into the sandstone cliffs, all designed for the wind to blow through and make as much noise as possible. The constant pipe-organ sounds reminded me of the floating lair of Aeolus back in Colorado, except here the winds seemed in no hurry.

Which seemed to be a big problem. On their best days, the southern venti were slow and lazy; on their worst days, they were gusty and angry. They'd initially welcomed the Argo II, since any enemy of Boreas was a friend of the South Wind, but they seemed to have forgotten that the demigods were their guests. The venti had quickly lost interest in helping repair the ship, and their king's mood got worse every day.

"Hey, you lazy farts!" I shouted. "How about you do something  _useful_  and either help us fix the ship  _properly_  or get  _out_  of our way!"

The venti all looked to me for a few moments before scattering back into the palace of the south wind.

"Thank you."

Down at the dock, the others were working on the Argo II. The mainsail had been repaired, the rigging replaced, and now they were mending the oars. Without Leo, they were unable to repair the more complicated parts of the ship, even with the help of Buford the table and Festus - who was now apparently permanently activated thanks to Piper's charmspeak. Emily had confessed she might have used her fire power to grant Festus the Fire of Life with Piper's more potent charmspeak giving Festus his soul and personality on top of the fire that gave him life. Emily had tried to mimic Leo's mind and thoughts to work on the controls and the engine, but it took her some concentration without Leo directly there for her to match wavelengths with. Hazel and Frank stood at the helm, tinkering with the controls, while Piper relayed their commands to Coach Hedge, who was hanging over the side of the ship, banging out dents in the oars. Hedge was well suited for banging on things. Audrey came above deck and joined in with helping, moving bigger parts of the ship with Ariel's help and controlling water streams to hammer things in from far away and check for water-proofing. They weren't making much progress, there was only so much they could do, but the ship looked considerably better than it had before, and it was a miracle this thing was still in one piece at all, so we were actually a lot better off than we had been last I was present for.

Thank the gods for Piper for managing to stop Khione from completely taking over the ship. If it hadn't been for her, Audrey may not have made it in time, Emily and Azrael would've been caught and they wouldn't have been able to bring Festus to life and kill Khione respectively. Piper still insisted that she hadn't done much - Khione had chosen not to freeze her because she had underestimated Piper as a threat, Audrey had done more work fighting Khione's brothers and holding off the wind bomb for as long as she did, and Emily and Azrael had done most of the work with Festus and actually slaying Khione. She considered herself a failure for not having stopped the wind bomb from exploding; but the truth was, she'd saved the entire crew from becoming ice sculptures in Quebec. She'd managed to direct the explosion of the icy sphere, so even though the ship had been pushed halfway across the Mediterranean, it had sustained relatively minor damage.

I sighed as I headed up to where Jason was waiting for his daily audience with the South Wind, Notus - or Auster in Roman terms. The lance of Hades was heavy on my belt despite being sheathed. It was supposed to belong to Veon, given to him when his father claimed him and began his journey to face the darkest and most ancient of the gods. It was meant to protect him, it was meant to give him the power of Hades when he needed it most. But it was with me now, and he was all alone.

Down at the dock, Hedge yelled, "Try it now!"

Hazel and Frank pulled some of the levers. The port oars went crazy, chopping up and down and doing the wave. Coach Hedge tried to dodge, but one smacked him in the rear and launched him into the air. He came down screaming and splashed into the bay.

"Oh no!" Emily exclaimed, shoving the levers off. "Audrey!"

"I'm on it!" She called.

What progress we were making.

I made it up to where Jason was on a balcony, waiting to be called in for his daily meeting. Over the last week, his skin had gotten darker, his hair had turned as white as corn silk, and he had a wild, empty look in his eyes, as if he'd gone blind wandering in the desert. Poor guy, left one of the only leaders on the ship and so often being incapacitated. Just with the recent Khione attack he'd been frozen over twice - having been unfrozen by Khione to make a point before he was instantly frozen over again before he could make any moves to attack. Reyna was flying toward Epirus all on her own, following their path which even all of  _us_ hadn't been able to make it on our own. Leo was lost and we could only hope when he would be back, Kaze was off probably being subjugated by Gaea again, Kandai and Tsuchi were still a threat, Percy and Annabeth…well, best-case scenario they were still alive, making their way to the Doors of Death. Hopefully, Bob had made it back to them. Not to mention Veon was now being torn apart by three Primordials in all and I was here, unable to help him. Safe, but not by his side. Then there was the issue with my Remnants haunting Audrey and trying to escape illegally, thereby going a little more insane than normal without No. 1 to keep them in control. And on top of  _that_ , the Empty had told me something that still rattled me to the core.

' ** _They are vying for his body and soul, fighting for his power and his heart._** '

' _Who?!_ '

' ** _All three of them. The pit has one, he hopes to hold both within his grasp so that nothing can stop him._** '

' _He holds_ one?'

' ** _He holds_** **you _._** '

"Jason."

The blond turned with slight surprise and I could see the gears in his head turn before he relaxed. "Another switch?"

"It appears so. I hear things haven't been going well with the wind god."

He sighed. "Don't even get me started. At this rate, we'll never be able to sail even if the southern venti allow us to."

"Oh come on now. You're a child of Jupiter, creatures like venti are bent to your will. Like Tempest, right? Vrontí was little challenge for me, even without the goddess helping me. These storm spirits should serve you if you're firm enough about your orders and have good reason for them. Speaking of which, hey you two right there!"

Two storm spirits froze and turned to me.

"Go tell the master of this castle that a new person seeks an audience with him: Rei, daughter of Erótisi. He'll know who they are if he's any god I should respect."

The two venti flew off in terror deeper into the castle.

Jason stared. "How'd you do that?"

"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. You really need to learn to be more assertive. I'll tell you that if there's one thing I've learned about the gods it's that they respect a man who holds confidence as a leader. Not  _arrogance_ , but confidence."

He sighed. "Well, it's hard to be very confident when we're barely hanging on here. Khione's attack really set us back, we've lost too many people."

"We'll get them back.  _All_  of them. We have to believe that with everything we have to give it our all."

He nodded. "You're right."

A rustling sound drew both of our attention. Nico di Angelo stood in the shadow of the nearest column. He'd shed his jacket, now wearing just his black T-shirt and black jeans. His sword and what had to be the scepter of Diocletian hung on either side of his belt. Seeing him instantly made me think of Veon and my heart clenched in terror again as I was reminded of his situation - not that I'd forgotten for even a single second. Days in the hot sun hadn't tanned  _his_  skin; if anything, he looked paler. His dark hair fell over his eyes, his face was still gaunt, but he was definitely in better shape than the last time I'd seen him. He'd regained enough weight not to look starved, his arms were surprisingly taut with muscles, as if he'd spent the past week sword fighting. For all I knew, he'd been off to practice raising spirits with Diocletian's scepter then sparring with him. Hey, it wouldn't surprise me.

"Any word from the king?" Nico asked.

Jason shook his head. "Every day, he calls for me later and later."

"We need to leave.  _Soon_."

"I'm sending for a meeting now," I announced. "You're right, we need to leave, and I'm going to make sure that we do. Today."

Jason could've sensed the tension from a mile away. "Did something happen when you switched? Do you guys know or sense something?"

"Percy is close to the Doors," Nico said, and I noticed that he didn't mention Annabeth. "He'll need us if he's going to make it through alive. As for Veon…"

"You have a soul bond," I remembered. "You can sense him, right? Even from Tartarus?!"

I realized I was unconsciously raising my voice as panic laced my voice.

Nico just shook his head. "That's the thing. I can't anymore. Ever since he disappeared last, there's this big empty hole inside me where his presence used to be. I don't know what's happened to him, but it was something strong enough and dangerous enough that his soul was extracted from mine almost surgically - accurate to the point that I've got nothing of him left to connect to."

My heart sank further, and I gripped the balcony rail. "We have to move quickly."

"All right," Jason said. "but if we can't repair the ship-"

"I promised I'd lead you to the House of Hades," Nico declared. "One way or another, I will."

"You can't shadow-travel with  _all_  of us. And it  _will_  take all of us to reach the Doors of Death.

The orb at the end of Diocletian's scepter glowed purple. Over the past week, it seemed to have aligned itself to Nico di Angelo's moods. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but it seemed cool.

"Then you've  _got_  to convince the king of the South Wind to help." Nico's voice seethed with anger. "I didn't come all this way, suffer so many humiliations…"

I could tell Jason was making a conscious effort not to reach for his sword. Whenever Nico got angry, he made everyone around him have their instincts scream ' _Danger!_ '

"Look, Nico, I'm here if you want to talk about, you know, what happened in Croatia. I'm no Emily, but I get how difficult-"

"You don't get  _anything_ ," Nico hissed.

"Nobody's going to judge you."

Nico's mouth twisted in a sneer. "Really? That would be a first. I'm a son of  _Hades_ , Jason. I might as well be covered in blood or sewage the way people treat me. I don't belong anywhere. I'm not even from this  _century_. But even that's not enough to set me apart. I've got to be…to be-"

"You're a  _person_ , Nico, there's nothing more to say about it," I interrupted. "Look, I've grown up with Kaze for years now, and we're just around 200 years old. It wasn't much of an issue before he'd hit puberty, but when he  _did_ , it was awkward as hell. But more than that, no one could ever find out his preferences or else he'd be picked on by other kids for being different - once he was nearly stoned to death for it when he thought a boy reciprocated his feelings but was only playing him for a fool. It was a rich kid with some douche friends. If you thought you had it bad in the 1900s, imagine the  _1800s_. Kaze was  _kidnapped_  and nearly  _stoned_  to death for what he was, and that wasn't even counting his demigod status. I found him and beat those kids near to death and hung them upside down by their ankles with rope for their parents to find with a warning note that if anyone messes with my brother again  _all_  of their families would suffer. I always supported Kaze back then and I'll do the same with anyone else like him."

Nico kept the emotion on his face blank, but he did take a moment to stare at me in thought. Finally, he averted his gaze smoothly as ever. "I can see why Veon likes you so much. When did you learn?"

"One, I've had an all-powerful goddess in my head for the past few years now. Two, I've grown up with Kaze as a reference. There was Emily, Veon, a couple of Primordials, your father, hell some dead guys that spread rumors. Not that most of them are to be believed. One of them keeps predicting the end of the world obsessively. It's the end of the world every Sunday. Wait…actually, that's just a Doomsday. It's this cool calendar thing that allows you to predict what day any given date is gonna be on. This year it's Sunday."

"Who comes up with ' _Doomsday_ ' as a name for something like that?"

"I think his name was John Con…something. Conley, Conway. It was two syllables. But we're off topic. You should know that you're not alone, whether you like it or not. Who you are doesn't matter to be at the very least. Trust me, I'm  _just_  as messed up."

"The rest of the crew won't judge you either," Jason added. "Start with Hazel. She's your sister, not by blood but still your family. You think that she'd push so hard for us to save you from the Giants even though we knew it was a trap, that we were on a time limit, and that we had a quest we were going on at the same time for someone that she'd just up and leave when something that's been true all your life was revealed? Frank's the nicest guy I know, even  _if_  he's a son of Ares, and for Hazel he'd do anything - not that he wouldn't accept you anyway because he's just that kind of guy. Leo's quirky and weird sometimes and basically the opposite of you, but he knows when things are serious and when he jokes around, he doesn't mean any offense - he's trying to say in his own way that he likes you and wants to consider you a friend. Pipes and Emily aren't Aphrodite, believe me, but they're a  _better_  version of her. They're good people who do love  _right_ , and absolutely  _nothing_  like Cupid - in fact, I think they'd sooner shank that guy even if they  _are_  related to him for what he did to you. Audrey's pretty chill about most things; I doubt she'd even bat an eye if you suddenly screamed the truth in a dead silent room, but she'd defend you without a second thought if she believed someone was giving you a hard time for it. Percy and Annabeth-"

Throughout Jason's entire speech, Nico had been quiet, but at least he had seemed more impassive than anything else. Now, his body tensed with anger and Jason quickly realized that he had said the wrong thing bringing the two of them up. Maybe the rest of the crew was okay, but something about those two and Nico's history with them made Nico's blood boil.

"You don't get to say  _anything_  about how other people see me," Nico hissed. "You're not me, Jason. It's easy to assume how easy life is when you're…when you're me."

"Dude! It's not like you've got a  _choice_. It's just who you  _are_. There's nothing wrong with that, and anyone who thinks so is a fool."

"Just who I am…" The balcony trembled. Patterns shifted in the stone floor, like bones coming to the surface. "Easy for you to say. You're everybody's golden boy, the son of  _Jupiter_. The only person who ever accepted  _me_  was Bianca, and she  _died!_  Now even Veon's gone and I…I'm just  _empty_. I didn't  _choose_  any of this. My father, my feelings…"

Jason looked conflicted. He wanted to be Nico's friend, that would be the only way to help, but Nico wasn't making it easy. Jason was a leader and a friend to near everyone he met. Nico was the only exception, and Jason seemed to take it as a challenge.

He raised his hands in submission. "Yeah, okay. But, Nico, you  _do_  choose how to live your life. You want to trust somebody? Maybe take a risk that I'm really your friend and I'll accept you. It's better than hiding."

The floor cracked between them and the crevice hissed, the air around Nico shimmering with a spectral light.

" _Hiding?_ " Nico's voice was deadly quiet.

Jason was a brave man in more ways than one. He was a strong fighter, sure, and he faced not only the challenges of fighting with comrades but also  _leading_  them. He'd met plenty of scary demigods, but he was starting to realize that Nico di Angelo - as pale and gaunt as he looked - might be more than he could handle. Nevertheless, he resisted the urge to draw his sword and held Nico's gaze.

"Yes, hiding. You've run away from both camps. You're so afraid you'll get rejected that you won't even try. Maybe it's time you come out of the shadows."

Just when the tension became unbearable, Nico dropped his eyes. The fissure closed in the balcony floor and the ghostly light faded.

"I'm going to honor my promise," Nico said, not much louder than a whisper. "I'll take you to Epirus. I'll help you close the Doors of Death. Then that's it. I'm leaving - forever."

Behind them, the doors of the throne room blasted open with a gust of scorching air.

A disembodied voice said: " _Lord Auster will see you now._ "

As much as he dreaded this meeting, Jason seemed relieved to hear that. At the moment, arguing with a crazy wind god seemed safer than befriending an angry son of Hades. Honestly, Veon was an outlier and Nico was a representation of what a son of Hades really  _should_  be like. Jason was beginning to assume so. He turned to tell Nico goodbye, but Nico had disappeared - melting back into the darkness.

"So, it's a  _storm_  day…" Jason muttered, turning to face the hall.

"What's that mean?" I asked as we walked deeper into the palace.

"Auster is the Roman version of the South Wind, and it's his turn holding court today."

"I know Auster is the Roman version. I suppose that means he'll be more subdued than a Greek. Greek wind gods have a lot of energy and often do that thing where they jump to conclusions and turn the entire conversation into what  _they_  want it to be."

"Oh, trust me, Auster is  _way_  more subdued. I've dealt with him the two previous days. All I can say is that while the god's Greek version was fiery and quick to anger, at least he was  _quick_."

"Let me guess. Auster…not so much."

He nodded with a light hum.

White and red marble columns lined the throne room, the rough sandstone floor smoking under our shoes. Steam hung in the air, like the bathhouse back at Camp Jupiter, except the bathhouses usually didn't have thunderstorms crackling across the ceiling, lighting the room in disorienting flashes. Southern venti swirled through the hall in clouds of red dust and superheated air, both of us careful to stay away from them. On Jason's first day here, he'd accidentally brushed his hand through one and gotten so many blisters, his fingers looked like tentacles. At the end of the room was the strangest throne I'd seen in a while: made of equal parts fire and water. The dais was a bonfire, flames and smoke curling up to form a seat, the back of the chair was a churning storm cloud, and the armrests sizzled where moisture met fire. It didn't look very comfortable, but the god Auster lounged on it like he was ready for an easy afternoon of watching football.

Standing up, he would've been about ten feet tall. A crown of steam wreathed his shaggy white hair. His beard was made of clouds, constantly popping with lightning and raining down on the god's chest, soaking his sand-colored toga. I wondered if you could shave a thundercloud beard. I thought it might be annoying to rain on yourself all the time, but Auster didn't seem to care. He reminded me of a soggy Santa Clause, but more lazy than jolly.

"So…" The god's voice rumbled like an oncoming storm. "The son of Jupiter returns."

Auster made it sound like Jason was late. Jason was tempted to remind the stupid wind god that he had spent hours outside every day waiting to be called, but he refrained. Jason was nothing if not a man with self-control when it came to addressing the gods.

"And this time you bring with you a friend."

"I  _told_  your stupid servants to inform you of my arrival," I announced with a frown.

It had been a long time since I'd been human, and forgive me if this was my first time being human and addressing a god who I just didn't have time for at the moment when my friends were on the line - when  _Veon_  was on the line all because of me. Besides, when you were basically immortal, not even the gods scared you. There was still that thing about how most of the gods still feared children of the Big Three, and I was technically a granddaughter of Zeus, a granddaughter of Apollo, and a child of Erótisi - an underestimated but powerful god who showed the strength of humanity at its fullest. Erótisi had a power that the gods did not: to break beyond the limits of her creation. She was made not from the ancient Primordials, not by choice, not by some fling or marriage, but because humanity was strong enough to create their own god. And that was scary to the deities that presided over this world, for they themselves had no power against the undying will of humanity.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure I heard about that at some point," Auster waved off casually.

Jason reigned in his frustration a lot better than I did and simply bowed. "My lord, have you received any news of my friend?"

"Friend?"

"Leo Valdez." Jason tried to stay patient. "The one who was taken by the winds."

"Oh…yes. Or rather, no. We have had no word. He was not taken by  _my_  winds. No doubt this was the work of Boreas or his spawn."

"Uh, yes. We knew that."

"That is the only reason I took you in, of course." Auster's eyebrows rose into his wreath of steam. "Boreas must be opposed! The north winds must be driven back!"

"Yes, my lord. But to oppose Boreas, we really need to get our ship out of the harbor."

"Ship in the harbor!" The god leaned back and chuckled, rain pouring out of his beard. "You know the  _last_ time mortal ships came into my harbor? A king of Libya…Psyollos was his name. He blamed  _me_  for the scorching winds that burned his crops. Can you  _believe_  it?"

Jason gritted his teeth. He'd learned that Auster couldn't be rushed. In his rainy form, he was sluggish and warm and random. "And did you burn those crops, my lord?"

"Of course!" Auster smiled good-naturedly. "But what did Psyollos expect, planting crops at the edge of the Sahara? The fool launched his entire fleet against me. He intended to destroy my stronghold so the south wind could never blow again. I destroyed his fleet, of course."

"Of  _course_ ," I sighed, rolling my eyes and crossing my arms.

Auster narrowed his eyes. "You aren't with Psyollos, are you?"

"No, Lord Auster," Jason interrupted. "I'm Jason Grace, son of-"

"Jupiter! Yes, of course. I like sons of Jupiter. But why are you still in my harbor?"

"Oh my  _gods!_ " I exclaimed.

Could gods get  _any_  more insufferable when you were on a time limit?

Jason suppressed a sigh. "We don't have your permission to leave, my lord. Also, our ship is damaged. We need our mechanic, Leo Valdez, to repair the engine, unless you know of another way."

"Hmm." Auster held up his fingers and let a dust devil swirl between them like a baton. "You know, people accuse me of being fickle. Some days I am the scorching wind, the destroyer of crops, the sirocco from Africa! Other days I am gentle, heralding the warm summer rains and cooling fogs of the southern Mediterranean. And in the off-season, I have a lovely place in Cancun! At any rate, in ancient times, mortals both feared me and loved me. For a god, unpredictability can be a strength."

"Then you are truly strong," Jason said.

"Thank you! Yes! But the same is not true of demigods."

"It's a blessing and a curse," I sighed. "For you and me both, bud. Can we get to the point please? I have places to be, people to save."

"It wasn't so long ago that you yourself lost sight of your path, dear child." Auster leaned forward, close enough so that we could smell rain-soaked fields and hot sandy beaches. "You both remind me of my own children. You have blown from place to place; you are undecided; you change day to day. If you could turn the wind sock, which way would it blow?"

Jason seemed very concerned. "Excuse me?"

"He basically asked which direction we're choosing to blow," I explained. "Knowing the path you're gonna follow, always a good thing."

"You say you need a navigator, you need my permission, Jason Grace. I say you need neither. It is time to choose a direction. A wind that blows aimlessly is of no use to anyone."

"I don't…I don't understand."

Yet even as he said it, he  _did_  understand. Nico had talked about not belonging anywhere, but at least Nico was free of attachments. He could go wherever he chose. For months, Jason had been wrestling with the question of where he belonged. He'd always chafed against the traditions of Camp Jupiter, the power plays, the infighting. But Reyna was a good person, and she needed his help. If he turned his back on her…someone like Octavian could take over and ruin everything Jason  _did_  love about New Rome. Could he be so selfish as to leave? The very idea crushed him with guilt. But in his heart, he  _wanted_  to be at Camp Half-Blood. The months he'd spend there with Piper and Leo, Emily and Audrey - they had felt more satisfying, more  _right_  than all his years at Camp Jupiter. Besides, at Camp Half-Blood, there was at least a  _chance_  he might meet his father someday. The gods hardly ever stopped by Camp Jupiter to say hello.

Jason took a shaky breath. "Yes. I know the direction I want to take."

"Good! And?"

"Uh, we still need a way to fix the ship. Is there-?"

Auster raised an index finger. "Still expecting guidance from the wind lords? A son of Jupiter should know better."

Jason hesitated. "We're leaving, Lord Auster. Today."

" _Finally!_ " I sighed.

The wind god grinned and spread his hands. "At last, you announce your purpose! Then you have my permission to go, though you do not need it. And how will you sail without your engineer, without your engines fixed?"

"We'll take some venti," I said. "They'll take us to where we need to go."

Jason felt the south winds zipping around him, whinnying in challenge like headstrong mustangs, testing his will. All week he had been waiting, hoping Auster would decide to help. For months he had worried about his obligations to Camp Jupiter, hoping his path would become clear. Now, he realized, he simply had to  _take_ what he wanted. He had to control the winds, not the other way around.

"You're going to help us," Jason agreed. "Your venti can take the form of horses. You'll give us a team to pull the Argo II. They'll lead us to wherever Leo is."

"Wonderful!" Auster beamed, his beard flashing with electricity. "Now…can you make good on those bold words? Can you control what you ask for, or will you be torn apart?"

The god clapped his hands and winds swirled around his throne and took the form of horses. These weren't dark and cold like Jason's steed Tempest - the South Wind horses were made of fire, sand, and hot thunderstorms. Eight of them raced past, their heat winging the hair off Jason's arms and giving me a nice warm breeze. For some reason, I was a very cold person. Like, when my mother (adoptive) was sweating hot, I was freezing. She wanted the thermostat at 68 degrees Fahrenheit, I wanted it at 72. Of course, I had nothing on Veon, who was used to and born for the cold of the Underworld, but still. If anything, the horses whizzing past was a nice, soothing, warm breeze. They galloped around the marble columns, spitting flames, neighing with a sound like sandblasters. The more they ran, the wilder they became. They started to eye Jason.

Auster stroked his rainy beard. "Do you know why the venti can appear as horses, my boy? Every so often, we wind gods travel the earth in equine form. On occasion, we've been known to sire the fastest of all horses."

"Thanks," Jason muttered, though his teeth were chattering with fear. "Too much information."

One of the venti charged at Jason. He ducked aside, his clothes smoking from the close call. The venti appeared to be completely  _avoiding_  me as I egged them on with my gaze.

"Come on! I've got places to be, people to save!" I shouted. "Or are we supposed to dance first? In which case, let's dance."

I snapped and held out my hands, the venti all being grabbed by wind tethers. It was like holding onto a herd of cars - or a  _fleet_  of cars? - but with a lot of strain, I managed to hold them all still for a few moments. In the end, I had to pick and choose my battles as I released some of them to be free and regained the strength to pull two of them to my side and override their motions entirely.

"Sometimes," Auster continued cheerfully, "mortals recognize our divine blood. They will say, ' _That horse runs like the wind_.' And for good reason. Like the fastest stallions, the venti are our children!"

The remaining wind horses began to circle Jason. I latched onto two more and pulled them out of the ranks, but that was already stretching my limits. It was like swimming, just barely able to hold my head above water, but it took all of my strength and concentration, and I was on the verge of panic for the moment when my strength would give way and I'd drown. I couldn't help Jason with the rest. That was something  _he_ had to do. And that was what Auster wanted to do, to test Jason's strength of will and his resolve to follow his heart.

"Like my friend Tempest," Jason ventured.

"Oh, well…" Auster scowled. "I fear that one is a child of Boreas. How you tamed him, I will never know." Wow, for a god to say that, you  _know_  that what Jason did was incredible. "These are my own offspring, a fine team of southern winds. Control them, Jason Grace, and they will pull your ship from the harbor."

Jason looked like he wanted to say ' _Control them? Yeah right_.' They ran back and forth, working up a frenzy. Like their master, the South Wind, they were conflicted - half hot, dry sirocco, half stormy thunderhead. The winds were unaffected by the whole Greek and Roman split because they were already chaotic and conflicted and they knew how to control it. Controlling the chaos, not taming it but  _using_  it - that was the skill they were trying to teach to us.

"Let's go, Jason!" I shouted.

Jason needed speed, he needed  _purpose_. He envisioned Notus, the Greek version of the South Wind - blistering hot, but very fast. In that moment, he  _chose_  Greek. He threw in his lot with Camp Half-Blood, and the horses changed. The storm clouds inside burned away, leaving nothing but red dust and shimmering heat, like mirages on the Sahara.

"Well done," The god said.

On the throne now sat Notus - a bronze-skinned old man in a fiery Greek chiton, his head crowned with a wreath of withered, smoking barley.

"What are you waiting for?" The god prompted.

Jason turned toward the fiery wind steeds. Suddenly he wasn't afraid of them. He thrust out his hand. A swirl of dust shot toward the nearest horse. A lasso - a rope of wind, more tightly wound than any tornado - wrapped around the horse's neck. The wind formed a halter and brought the beast to a stop. Jason summoned another wind rope. He lashed a second horse, binding it to his will. In less than a minute, he had tethered all four remaining venti. He reined them in, still whinnying and bucking, but they couldn't break Jason's ropes. It felt like flying four kites in a strong wind - hard, yes, but not impossible.

"Very good, Jason Grace," Notus said. "You are a son of Jupiter, yet you have chosen your own path - as all the greatest demigods have done before you. You cannot control your parentage, but you  _can_  choose your legacy. Now, go. Lash your team to the prow and direct them toward Malta."

"Malta?"

Jason tried to focus, but the heat from the horses was making him light-headed. He knew nothing about Malta except for some vague story about a Maltese falcon. Were malts invented there?

"Once you arrive in the city of Valletta, you will no longer need these horses," Notus continued.

"You mean…we'll find Leo there?"

The god shimmered, slowly fading into waves of heat. "Your destiny grows clearer, Jason Grace. When the choice comes again - storm or fire - remember me. And do not despair."

The doors of the throne room burst open. The horses, smelling freedom, bolted for the exit, taking Jason with them.

Notus's voice continued to whisper through the air, as though his voice was the wind itself - which it probably was.

" _Daughter of Erótisi, I ask you this. You've been given mortality for the first time in centuries, and yet you choose to throw it away again? Mortality is the freedom to choose your path, child. Your greatest curse of the Styx is infinite paths of choice with inevitable regret. Your greatest blessing comes in the form of endless misery within the caress of power that you cannot control nor fully comprehend. Which path will you choose, I wonder? The final call, my dear. A single choice in a life lived by others and not yourself. Do not waste it._ "

The four horses under my power suddenly shot forward, and since I had tethered them to myself just as Jason had, they ripped me off my feet as I was pulled along with them out of the South Wind's palace. I pulled with all my might and ended up landing on one of them, the other three in formation around me. We hurried after Jason to the Argo II.

At sixteen, most kids would stress about parallel parking tests, getting a driver's license, and affording a car. We were not most kids. Jason stressed about controlling a team of fiery horses with wind ropes while I got the others aboard and safely below deck. We lashed the venti to the prow of the Argo II (which Festus was  _not_  happy about), and I made sure the load was spread evenly around the front of the ship so that we didn't just rip off some of the wood and leave ourselves stranded.

Jason straddled the figurehead, and yelled, "Giddyup!"

The venti tore across the waves. They weren't quite as fast as Hazel and Veon's horses - Arion and Zoltan respectively - but they had a lot more heat. They kicked up a rooster tail of steam that made it almost impossible for us to see where we were going. I stood on the deck with my arms out, holding all of the horses under my command together while Jason drove at the prow. The ship shot out of the bay, and in no time, Africa was a hazy line on the horizon behind us. Maintaining the wind ropes took everything we had and all of our concentration, but on the bright side, it distracted me from my seasickness since I no longer had celestial help with containing it. It was a miracle that we managed to order the command ' _Malta_ ' as the horses strained to break free with only our willpower keeping them in check. The heat was also hard to endure, but not hard enough that we couldn't manage it along with everything else.

By the time land finally appeared in the distance - a hilly island carpeted with low stone buildings - we were each soaked in our own sweat. Every limb felt rubbery, like we'd been holding out barbells straight out in front of us. All we could do was hope that we'd reached the right place, since Jason had reached his limit and couldn't keep the horses together any longer. He released the wind reins and I did the same, the venti scattering into particles of sand and steam.

Exhausted, Jason climbed down from the prow and I collapsed on the deck. I hadn't been this… _tired_  in so long. It was a  _natural_  kind of tired, not a tired from some burst of my mother's power, not the kind of tired that came from containing Primordial forces within your body. It was just good old fashioned exhaustion that made you see spots in your vision, that made your limbs ache and your head pound, and it was accompanied by the relief of it being over. I never thought that I'd been so happy to feel so weak. Hell, I felt nostalgic.

Jason leaned against Festus's neck as the dragon turned and gave him a chin hug. "Thanks, man. Rough day, huh?"

Behind us, the deck boards creaked. Piper hurried over to Jason, handing him some ambrosia to help with the fact that his skin was dotted with blisters.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked.

Oh, hey, she was standing over me. Oh, and I was also laying down. When did that happen?

"Here,  _this_  fire should be a little less painful."

Her necklace shimmered as her hands were set ablaze with flame and she reached out to touch my burnt skin. The warm feeling was nice, like a breath of fresh air, and the injuries healed.

"Man, why can't my water do the healing thing?" Audrey asked. "I wanna be a water-bender healer from Avatar."

"The water heals  _you_ ," Emily pointed out.

"Me and me alone."

I managed to sit up, still feeling exhausted but at least not in a painful way. "I think we have our medics, Audrey. You just go on being an offensive fighter and stuff. How long were we going on about it?"

"About six hours."

"Wow. I need food. Let's get some, dude. Oh, great, the rhyming has settled in. Now I'll be stuck like this thanks to the wind. Are the others okay? I bet they're tired of being cooped up all day."

"What happens if you stop talking before the rest of the rhyme has come out?" Audrey asked instead of answering the question.

"The words continue in my head, it's a nightmare filled with dread. Being stuck in your mind with rhymes all the time? No, it's a place we do not go. And it's not always simple rhymes as you hear now. Sometimes it's poems, tunes, plays and musicals I try to tune out. Now to the food before I get in a mood."

I headed downstairs with the two of them following behind me, getting to the mess hall and grabbing one of the magic plates to bring back up on deck. I needed the fresh air right now, rather than the superheated air of the wind horses. I wasn't a fan of the smell of the sea, but eventually, my nose grew accustomed to it and I didn't smell it anymore.

Piper and Jason were on deck together still. Piper, in her green tank top, her beige shorts, and her hiking boots, looked like she was ready to climb a mountain - and then fight an army at the top. Her dagger was strapped to her belt, her cornucopia slung over one shoulder, and she'd taken to wearing the jagged bronze sword she'd recovered from Zethes the Boread, which was only slightly less intimidating than an assault rifle. During their time at Auster's palace, apparently, she'd taken up sword fighting with Hazel and Audrey. Emily had been honing her skills with her Hearth of Hestia and her new powers found from the Dove of Aphrodite.

"Turns out, it doesn't just make you invisible," Emily recounted. "With all the spare time we had, I started playing around with it, and it turns out it has a couple of different settings. It can make me invisible, but it can also disguise me as anyone that I've seen before. If I don't have a full image - like it's just a picture of their face or just their waist and above - that's all that'll transform. It can make it so that whoever looks at me sees the person they are most afraid of, the person they hate the most, and also the person that they love the most. Basically, it can be set to any emotion that I, myself, can feel. And since I can connect to the emotions of those around me, I can basically feel everything there is to feel so long as I've encountered someone else facing it."

"Here, show her the love one," Audrey suggested.

Emily nodded and shimmered. Within the blink of an eye, she was someone else entirely. It was almost like a trick of the light, as though the person standing there had been there the entire time. And it hurt as I suddenly saw Veon sitting there beside me on the deck, smiling and speaking words that I no longer heard. Guilt was a painful thing. It ate away at you constantly, it was hard to ease even when you were assured that you shouldn't be guilty, and it could drive mortals to madness in their sorrow. If I could feel guilt even with Primordials within me (even if they  _were_  weakened), this guilt as just a regular human was so much worse. It was like an invincible man being shot and the bullet actually piercing him as it naturally would. I've lived so long without needing to worry about emotions that I was unprepared for the aching guilt that ate away at me like a black hole. It was painful as a knife to the chest, and I needed to avert my gaze before something inside me exploded. My heart would pour out of me, gush out of me like floodwater through a broken dam. I wouldn't be able to function, I just knew it.

"Lu? Hey, are you okay?"

Was I trembling? I couldn't tell.

"Hey, calm down, we've got you."

I felt a hand take mine and I gripped it tightly. A soothing wave swept through me and I instantly felt like I could breathe again. It felt like I had been underwater and now I broke the surface.

"Deep breaths," Emily advised.

"What happened?" Audrey asked.

"A panic attack. Her emotions are very sensitive to overexposure right now. She should be fine so long as we stay close and make sure we're there for any triggers."

"And by 'we' you mean  _you_  are there for any triggers. I am like a flopping fish in the face of my emotions."

"I think we're  _all_  dealing with a bit of stress right now," Emily said simply. "We should just be happy that we're so close to Leo. Audrey, can you get us to shore?"

"Yeah, you got it."

She stood and held out her arms, summoning a large wave to push the ship forward. She had to concentrate on the task rather than just letting us drift, but she kept the boat straight and steady as we headed for land. Jason scanned the docks, eager and hopeful that they'd find Leo. It was understandable. Being reminded of the whole storm and fire business hadn't helped with his worry that it would be either him or Leo that might die in the battle against Gaea. Knowing Jason, he'd make sure that he was the one who died if that was the case. He had to protect his friends and stop Gaea - whatever it took. At the same time, he deserved the future that he chose to seek out. ' _Do not despair_ ,' Notus had said. Yeah. Easy for an immortal wind god to say.

As the island got closer, we could see docks bristling with sails. From the rocky shoreline rose fortress-like seawalls - fifty or sixty feet tall. Above that sprawled a medieval-looking city of church spires, domes, and tightly wedged buildings, all made of the same golden stone. From where we were, it looked as if the city covered every inch of the island. As we scanned the boats in the harbor, we saw that, a hundred yards ahead, tied to the end of the longest dock, was a makeshift raft with a simple mast and a square canvas sail. On the back, the rudder was wired to some sort of machine. Even from this distance, the glint of Celestial bronze could be seen. Only one demigod would make a boat like that, and he'd moored it as far out in the harbor as possible, where the Argo II couldn't fail to spot it.

"Get the others. Leo is here."


	34. Together Yet So Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second part of a triple update. I know triple! I only mention this stuff at the beginning of chapters since often all the updates come in at once and sometimes things glitch and only the last one shows up or only one of them shows up no matter the order. Taking no chances. I've had it happen to me with stories I follow where I haven't read them in a while and I start reading a chapter then I'm like "Wait, did I know this information before?" and I end up spoiling myself as I read out of order.
> 
> Long story short, enjoy (in order)!
> 
> :P

First Person: Kaze

The wait for the Argo II's arrival would have been boring if I had any perception of time. Leo was lost in thought the entire time, so he barely noticed the wait at all. I stared down at the raft, making sure that any wandering mortals didn't disturb it. Tsuchi had told me to seek out Leo Valdez and rescue him, which I had done. Now, I didn't have orders from her or Gaea alike. Now, I was just confused as to what I was supposed to do. I wasn't  _upset_  about it, per say, but I  _did_  want to know what to do.

When the Argo II finally arrived, I began to wonder if I should rejoin the crew. It would draw attention if I was caught opposing Gaea's forces, but until then, I could simply say I was infiltrating the enemy. Then again, I couldn't very well do it while I looked exactly like a reanimation that Tsuchi and Kandai were. Where  _were_  they, anyway? I wondered. I sped through a souvenir shop and easily stole a white fedora to match my new outfit without even kicking up a breeze. I was almost amazed at how easy it was to move now - like air resistance itself couldn't affect me and my acceleration was almost instant. If I could be amazed, that is. I had a moment of pause, wondering if I should change my trench coat to be my red jacket. Tsuchi had told me that my red jacket had been utilized to make the new white trench coat, since the properties of its infinite pockets were useful, but it needed to be changed - made less human. Well, I had already chosen a white fedora. No use going looking for something else to hide my inhumanness.

The crew of the Argo II met us at the top of the city fortifications, sitting at an open-air café, overlooking the sea, Leo drinking a cup of coffee. Piper nearly knocked him out of his chair with a hug.

"Leo! Gods, where have you  _been?!_ "

"Valdez!" Coach Hedge grinned. Then he seemed to remember he had a reputation to protect and he forced a scowl. "You ever disappear like that again, you little punk, I'll knock you into next month!"

Frank patted Leo on the back so hard it made him wince. Even Nico shook his hand.

Hazel kissed Leo on the cheek. "We thought you were dead!"

"We were so worried!" Emily exclaimed.

"You got freaking shot into the  _sky_ ," Audrey recounted. "I can't even  _imagine_  how that works, but at least you're back either way."

Leo mustered a faint smile. "Hey, guys. Nah, nah, I'm good."

"Welcome back," Rei said flatly.

She was so silent and she hadn't come up to Leo that I almost mistook her for someone else. The aura I was sensing off of her nearly wasn't there. Usually, she had been so full of Primordial power that I could've sensed her from a mile away even before I'd gone through my transformation. It wasn't like I had grown a sixth sense from returning from the dead or anything (Hazel had returned from the dead and she seemed as normal as a daughter of Pluto  _could_  be). It was more like Rei's presence made the pressure in the room drop just enough that you knew something had changed though you couldn't say what. To those who were too ADHD, a change like that could either pass by you completely or it could be so prominent that it takes your entire attention trying to figure out what the change was and where it was coming from.

It was clear that she noticed something was off about Leo with a single glance. He wouldn't meet any of their eyes, his hands were perfectly still - and his hands were  _never_  still. All the nervous energy had drained right out of him, replaced by a kind of wistful sadness. He looked the same way Nico di Angelo did after facing Cupid in the ruins of Salona. He was heartsick. The café had a perfect view of the harbor. Leo must have seen the Argo II sail in from a long way off, and yet he sat here drinking coffee - which he didn't even  _like_  - waiting for them to find him. That wasn't like Leo at all. The ship was the most important thing in his life, and when he saw it coming to rescue him, Leo should have run down to the docks, whooping at the top of his lungs. To his close friends, that was a big warning sign.

The others grabbed chairs from the nearby tables, Rei coming over in my direction. I couldn't decide if I wanted to keep my identity hidden or not - it kinda became harder to make decisions when you had little to no emotions, and you didn't care either way. By the time she made it over there, I still hadn't made the decision.

"Kaze?"

It wasn't Rei's voice that had pointed me out first. Instead, I felt a tug on my sleeve and turned to see that Azrael was standing beside me. How had he gotten there? My senses were hyper-aware right now. He shouldn't have been able to get under my radar.

"Azrael,  _there_  you are!" Emily exclaimed. "You went into the Veil again, didn't you?"

He nodded to her. "My mother said to look for a darkness she could not see. I found it."

"You're speaking English," I realized.

"There is no language in the Veil," He explained simply. "I have had a week to learn the Veil. Only a day, perhaps, from my own perspective."

"The Veil allows him to pass time a lot slower than in the real world," Emily informed me. "Basically, the rest of the world speeds by around him if he isn't focusing on what he's doing."

"ADHD to the max, like you, Kaze," Rei said. I hadn't noticed that she'd seen me and had joined the conversation. Maybe it wasn't Azrael using the Veil to sneak up on me but just me and my senses dulling. "Speaking of  _you_ , where have you  _been?_  You make this big deal about  _me_  leaving  _you_  and then you have  _me_  all worried about where you are  _instead_."

"I am not myself. I…have no idea what I am."

"You speak with no language as well," Azrael said. "We can speak freely without assistance."

Had he gotten shorter since the last time I saw him? I could've sworn he wasn't a whole  _head_  shorter than me when we'd met. Come to think of it, Rei was shorter too. Actually,  _I_  was simply  _taller_  than her. This fact was confirmed when she had to reach up to wrap me in a hug.

"What happened to you?" She asked warily. "You…"

"You smell like the two who took you," Azrael said. "You smelled wrong before, but  _now_ …"

" _Smelled_  wrong?" Audrey asked. Wonderful. Now  _she_  had joined the conversation too. "What's that mean?"

"You all smell off," Azrael said.

"The smell of death, I assume," Rei explained. "Kaze was brought back illegally, but he was still pretty much human - like Hazel.  _Now_ …now he's a reanimation like my father and his mother."

"You smell like Zytaveon," Azrael said to Rei. He addressed Audrey next, pointing at Rei. "You now smell like her. And she smells of death as well. All different death scents."

"What about me?" Emily asked.

"You smell like…flowers."

Emily smiled. "Aw, that's so  _sweet_."

Azrael had apparently been opening up more to the crew, willing to speak more often. Emily was the one he stayed close to and confessed the most to, as well as the one who he needed present to do much speaking at all. Perhaps her emotional aura was getting to me, but I almost thought I started feeling emotions again for a moment. It wasn't  _good_  emotion. It was some kind of sting, a sting of anger perhaps. Maybe…jealousy.

"Let us trade a recount of the events that have transpired in our parting," I said suddenly.

"Woah, look at mister  _fancy_  over here," Audrey smirked. "Right. Let's compare notes."

We were taken to join the others at Leo's table, where Jason leaned in and squeezed his friend's shoulder.

"Hey, man. What happened?"

Leo's eyes swept around the group. The message was clear: ' _Not here. Not in front of everyone._ ' Leo had specifically requested that I don't mention Calypso to the others for some reason. I had no reason to disobey, so I just went with it.

"I got marooned," Leo said. "Long story. How about you guys? What happened with Khione?"

Coach Hedge snorted. "What  _happened?_  These ladies right  _here_  happened!" He pointed to a bashful Piper, a humble Emily, and a distracted Audrey who looked up from her thoughts and blinked in confusion. "I'm  _telling_  you, these girls got  _skills!_ "

"Coach-" Piper protested.

Hedge began retelling the story, but in  _his_  version, Piper was a kung fu assassin, Emily was a martial arts black-belt, there were a  _lot_  more Boreads, and apparently, Ariel and Audrey did a lot more stealth than they attested to. Then Azrael pops out of nowhere and destroyed Khione permanently. Hedge was just describing Piper taking Khione by surprise with a roundhouse kick as Azrael stabbed her through the chest from behind when Piper finally interrupted.

"Coach! It didn't happen like that at  _all!_  I couldn't have done much without Festus."

Leo raised his eyebrows. "But Festus was deactivated."

"Um, about that. We sorta woke him up."

Piper explained how she and Emily had rebooted the metal dragon with charmspeak by giving it the Fire of Life and enabling Festus's personality to grow out of the care that came from the people who had loved Festus around him.

"We basically gave him a soul and all he needed was a bit of juice to fully activate," Emily explained.

"Shouldn't be possible," Leo murmured. "Unless the upgrades let him respond to voice commands. But if he's permanently activated, that means the navigation systems and the crystal-"

"Crystal?" Jason asked.

Leo flinched. "Um, nothing. Anyway, what happened after the wind bomb went off?"

Hazel took up the story. A waitress came over and offered menus, and in no time the others were all chowing down on sandwiches and sodas, enjoying the sunny day almost like a group of regular teenagers.

"Why are you not eating?" Azrael asked me.

"I do not eat. My body does not need it."

He placed his hand on top of mine and suddenly a wave of cold went through me. The smell of the food now made my stomach rumble and I wanted to eat something.

"Do you like this? I do not eat much, so you can have some of mine."

He gave me half of his sandwich and I accepted it eagerly. "How'd you do that?"

"You have a soul, it is merely damaged. It is buried, it is hurt. I can fix it a little, but your body is not…right. I cannot fix it permanently."

Frank grabbed a tourist brochure stuck under the napkin dispenser and began to read it. Piper patted Leo's arm, like she couldn't believe he was really here. Nico and Rei stood at the edge of the group, eyeing the passing pedestrians as if they might be enemies. Rei tapped her foot, eager to get moving, and she kept glancing back at me as though I might disappear. I suppose that I  _could_  if I wanted to, with my speed and all. Coach Hedge munched on the salt and pepper shakers while Emily and Audrey debated whether to stop him or not. Despite the happy reunion, everybody seemed more subdued than they normally were - like they were picking up on Leo's mood. Emily noticed the subtle cues and gave a smile, and something heavy seemed to lift off the heavy atmosphere.

"So then Jason and Lu harnessed the venti and here we are," Hazel finished.

Leo whistled. "Hot-air horses? Dang. So basically, you held a bunch of gas together all the way to Malta, and then you let it loose."

"You make it sound like a fart," Audrey smirked.

Jason frowned. "You know, it doesn't sound so heroic when you put it that way."

"Yeah, well I'm an expert on hot air," Leo said. "I'm still wondering, why Malta? I just kind of ended up here on the raft, but was that a random thing, or-"

"Maybe because of this," Frank announced. He tapped his brochure. "Says here Malta was where Calypso lived."

A pint of blood drained from Leo's face. "W-What now?"

Frank shrugged. "According to this, her original home was an island called Gozo just north of here. Calypso's a Greek myth thingy, right?"

"Ah, a Greek myth thingy!" Coach Hedge rubbed his hands together. "Maybe we get to fight her! Do we get to fight her? Cause I'm ready."

"No," Leo murmured. "No, we don't have to fight her, Coach."

Piper frowned. "Leo, what's wrong? You look-"

"Nothing's wrong!" Leo snapped, shooting to his feet. "Hey, we should get going. We've got work to do!"

"But…where did you  _go?_ " Hazel asked. "Where did you get those clothes? How-?"

"Jeez, ladies! I appreciate the concern, but I don't need two extra moms!"

Piper smiled uncertainly. "Okay, but-"

"Ships to fix! Festus to check! Earth goddess to punch in the face! What are we waiting for? Leo's back!"

He spread his arms and grinned. The tension in the air was clear despite Leo's effort to hide his feelings. Emily frowned at him, taking pity like she always did and sitting forward to draw the attention away from Leo.

"Leo's right," Emily announced. "We need to figure out our next move, and I don't think Calypso is gonna be some kind of threat."

"Calypso was a harmless woman," Audrey interjected. "She was a part of the Odyssey, right? She just had an island or something, but she wasn't some kind of fighter or witch."

"She was a sorceress of some sort, right?" Jason recalled. "Like Medea or Circe."

"She was a woman trapped on an island who was probably lonely," Emily corrected. "I doubt that categorizes her as some evil sorceress even if she can do magic. Either way, we have Leo back and we've lost an entire week thanks to him being gone. How far is Malta from Epirus?"

"We still have to go across the Ionian Sea," Audrey informed them. "Under the boot of Italy. It  _should_  be a straight shot once we go around to the north side of Malta."

"Meaning we should get going soon if we wanna save some time," Rei announced. "Everyone up, let's move it."

They started wrapping up their food and finishing their drinks. I finished my sandwich, and it was surprisingly good. As Azrael let go of me, I began to feel more and more numb like the reanimation that I was. But it was nice to be able to feel even temporarily. I would stay with them, I decided.

"Guys…"

Hazel was looking up into the air. She pointed to the northeast horizon - the direction of Epirus. A streak of darkness shot into the air like black lightning - as if pure night had torn through the daytime.

"I don't see anything," Coach Hedge grumbled.

"Me neither," Piper said.

Most of them just looked confused beyond Hazel, Nico, Azrael, Onesan, and Jason.

"That can't be…" Nico muttered. "Greece is still hundreds of miles away."

The darkness flashed again, momentarily leaching the color from the horizon.

"You think it's Epirus?" Jason asked.

It was odd that he could see the lightning when he wasn't somehow connected to the Underworld. The fact seemed to chill him to the bone as much as the rest of them.

"The House of Hades is open for business," Rei agreed.

A few seconds later, a rumbling sound washed over then like distant artillery.

"It's begun," Hazel said.

"What has?" Emily asked.

When the next flash happened, Hazel's gold eyes darkened like foil in fire. "Gaea's final push. The Doors of Death are working overtime. Her forces are entering the mortal world en masse."

"We'll never make it," Nico said. "By the time we arrive, there'll be too many monsters to fight."

Jason set his jaw. "We'll defeat them. And we'll make it there fast. We've got Leo back. He'll give us the speed we need." He turned to his friend. "Or is that just hot air?"

Leo managed a crooked grin. His eyes seemed to say, ' _Thanks_.' "Time to fly, boys and girls," He said. "Uncle Leo's still got a few tricks up his sleeves!"

* * *

First Person: Zytaveon

" _What do you hate?_ "

"Huh?"

" _Do you hate it when your friends are hurt? Do you hate it when things you love are taken away from you?_ "

"Yeah."

" _Do you ever get angry? Do you ever snap?_ "

"Sometimes, sure. But not often."

" _I get very restless. Chaos calls me emotionally unstable; I call it emotionally_ empowered _. But you see, that means I invent and destroy and I feel too much for the human mind to comprehend on its own. You must lose yourself in order to understand me. Stop paying so much attention to everything, and therefore find out who you truly are underneath the surface when all else has been stripped away. Your darkness is impressive, but is it enough?_ "

I sighed. "Let's just get on with it. Chaos can't hold him back for much longer."

" _Yes, yes. Let's see if we can break you, Zytaveon. The fate of our worlds depend on it._ "

* * *

Third Person: No. 1

Percy Jackson wasn't dead yet, but he was already tired of being a corpse. As they trudged toward the heart of Tartarus, he kept glancing down at his body, wondering how it could belong to him. His arms looked like bleached leather pulled over sticks, his skeletal legs seemed to dissolve into smoke with every step. He'd learned to move normally within the Death Mist, more or less, but the magical shroud still made him feel like he was wrapped in a coat of helium. He worried that the Death Mist might cling to him forever, even if they somehow managed to survive Tartarus. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life looking like an extra from ' _The Walking Dead_.'

He tried to focus on something else, but there was no safe direction to look. Under his feet, the ground glistened a nauseating purple, pulsing with webs of veins. In the dim red light of the blood clouds, Death Mist Annabeth looked like a freshly risen zombie. Ahead was the most depressing view of all. Spread to the horizon was an army of monsters - flocks of winged  _arai_ , tribes of lumbering Cyclopes, clusters of floating evil spirits. Thousands of baddies, maybe  _tens_  of thousands, all milling restlessly, pressing against one another, growling and fighting for space - like the locker area of an overcrowded school between classes, if all the students were 'roid-raging mutants who smelled  _really_  bad.

No. 1 sat on Bob's shoulder as he led the two demigods behind him towards the edge of the army. He made no effort to hide, not that it would have done any good. Being ten feet tall and glowing silver, Bob didn't do stealth very well.

About thirty yards from the nearest monsters, Bob turned to face Percy. "Stay quiet and stay behind me," He advised. "They will not notice you."

"We hope," Percy muttered.

"Now, now, remain positive," No. 1 said. "The more natural you appear, the safer you shall be."

On the Titan's other shoulder, Small Bob woke up from a nap. He purred seismically and arched his back, turning skeletal then back to calico. At least  _he_  didn't seem nervous.

Annabeth examined her own zombie hands. "Bob, if we're invisible…how can  _you_  see us? I mean, you're technically, you know…"

"Yes," Bob said. "But we are friends."

"Nyx and her children could see us."

Bob shrugged. "That was in Nyx's realm. That is different."

"Uh…right."

Annabeth didn't sound reassured, but they were here now. They didn't have any choice but to try. No. 1 knew that sharing the information would likely make the two demigods even more worried, but it was suggested that the moment that they were seen by someone, they could never be  _un_ seen - once they were found out by one hostile, the illusion would wear off.

Percy stared at the swarm of vicious monsters. "Well, at least we won't have to worry about bumping into any other ' _friends_ ' in this crowd."

Bob grinned. "Yes, that  _is_  good news! Now, let's go. Death is close."

"The  _Doors_  of Death are close," Annabeth corrected. "Let's watch the phrasing."

They plunged into the crowd. Percy trembled so badly, he was afraid the Death Mist would shake right off him. He'd seen large groups of monsters before. He'd fought off an army of them during the Battle of Manhattan. But this was different. Whenever he'd fought monsters in the mortal world, Percy at least knew he was defending his home. That gave him courage, no matter how bad the odds were. Here,  _Percy_  was the invader. He didn't belong in this multitude of monsters any more than the Minotaur belonged in Penn Station at rush hour. A few feet away, a group of empousai tore into the carcass of a gryphon while other gryphons flew around them, squawking in outrage. A six-armed Earthborn and a Laistrygonian giant pummeled each other with rocks, though it was hard to tell if they were fighting or just messing around. A dark wisp of smoke - probably an eidolon - seeped into a Cyclops, made the monster hit himself in the face, then drifted off to possess another victim. One of them came near No. 1, but she waved them away and made it feel the pain of possessing a person who'd drowned to get it to back off.

"Percy, look," Annabeth whispered.

A stone's throw away, a guy in a cowboy outfit was cracking a whip at some fire-breathing horses. The wrangler wore a Stetson hat on his greasy hair, an extra-large set of jeans, and a pair of black leather boots. From the side, he might have passed for human - until he turned, and it could be seen that his upper body was split into three different chests, each one dressed in a different color Western shirt. It was Geryon, who had tried to kill Percy two years ago in Texas. Apparently, the evil rancher was anxious to break in a new herd. The idea of that guy riding out of the Doors of Death made Percy's sides hurt all over again. His ribs throbbed where the arai had unleashed Geryon's dying curse back in the forest. He wanted to march up to the three-bodied rancher, smack him in the face, and yell, ' _Thanks a lot, Tex!_ ' Sadly, he couldn't, though the image made No. 1 smile.

In this crowd, No. 1 was easily mistaken for a disguised and unique arai with the power of the Curse as Remnants of so many deaths. No. 1 was still part human, no matter how powerful she was, but she was also part monster. As such, most creatures in Tartarus didn't know what to make of her. Some tried to challenge her, others kept their distance. She drew eyes, but Bob took most of the attention and she looked like nothing more than a creature that had simply hitched a ride just like Small Bob. Either way, No. 1 wasn't in danger of being singled out even should Bob not be there. Because of the human in her, Nyx had prevented her from reaching the Doors of Death the monster way, but considering she was born in Tartarus, she was considered a monster all the same.

How many other old enemies were in this crowd? Percy began to realize that every battle he'd ever won had only been a temporary victory. No matter how strong or lucky he was, no matter how many monsters he destroyed, Percy would eventually fail. He was only one mortal. He would get too old, too weak, or too slow. He would die. And these monsters…they lasted  _forever_. They just kept coming back. Maybe it would take them months or years to reform, maybe even centuries. But they  _would_  be reborn. Seeing them assembled in Tartarus, Percy felt as hopeless as the spirits in the River Cocytus. So what if he was a hero? So what if he did something brave? Evil was always here, regenerating, bubbling under the surface. Percy was no more than a minor annoyance to these immortal beings. They just had to outwait him. Someday, Percy's sons or daughters might have to face them all over again.

 _Sons and daughters_ …

The thought jarred him. As quickly as hopelessness had overtaken him, it disappeared. He glanced at Annabeth. She still looked like a misty corpse, but he imagined her true appearance - her gray eyes full of determination, her blond hair pulled back in a bandana, her face weary and streaked with grime, but as beautiful as ever. Okay, maybe monsters kept coming back forever, but so did demigods. Generation after generation, Camp Half-Blood had endured, and Camp Jupiter. Even separately, the two camps had survived. Now, if the Greeks and Romans could come together, they would be even stronger. There was still hope. He and Annabeth had come this far. The Doors of Death were almost within reach.  _Sons and daughters_. A ridiculous thought. As awesome thought. Right there in the middle of Tartarus, surrounded by countless monsters and certain doom, Percy grinned.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth whispered.

With his zombie Death Mist disguise, Percy looked like he was grimacing in pain rather than smiling.

"Nothing," He said. "I was just-"

Somewhere in front of them, a deep voice bellowed: "IAPETUS!"

A Titan strode toward them, casually kicking lesser monsters out of the way. He was roughly the same height as Bob, with elaborate Stygian iron armor, a single diamond blazing in the center of his breastplate. His eyes were blue-white, like core samples from a glacier, and just as cold. His hair was the same color, cut military style. A battle helmet shaped like a bear's head was tucked under his arm and from his belt hung a sword the size of a surfboard. Despite his battle scars, the Titan's face was handsome and strangely familiar. No. 1 had seen many different monsters throughout her time, so it was unsurprising if she couldn't keep track of them all. Still…the name was on the tip of her tongue. Kiros?

The Titan stopped in front of Bob and clapped him on the shoulder, nearly knocking No. 1 off from the force that shook her ride. "Iapetus! Don't tell me you don't recognize your own brother!"

"No!" Bob agreed nervously. "I won't tell you that."

The other Titan threw back his head and laughed. "I heard you were thrown into the Lethe. Must've been terrible! We all knew you would heal eventually. It's Koios!  _Koios!_ "

"Of course. Koios, Titan of…"

"The North," No. 1 remembered.

"I know!" Bob shouted.

They laughed together and took turns hitting each other in the arm. Apparently miffed by all the jostling, Small Bob crawled into Bob's head and began making a nest in the Titan's silver hair. No. 1 was currently having to grip said hair to hang on, though it didn't bother her that much.

"Poor old Iapetus," Koios said. "They must have laid you low indeed.  _Look_  at you! A  _broom?_  A  _servant's uniform?_  A cat in your hair, babysitting a little girl?"

No. 1 kicked Koios, releasing a small amount of power as to not kill the Titan but just to make a point. Her kick was enough to dislocate the Titan's jaw, but with his hyper-healing from both being a Titan and being in Tartarus, it wasn't some kind of fatal wound. The entire area seemed to shake from the force, and it sent Koios staggering back as No. 1 cursed at him in Japanese.

"I am no baby to be sat upon!" No. 1 finished.

Koios simply chuckled and repositioned his jaw from the blow. "Well, at least she's not a completely useless choice of companion. Just don't tell me that she's been having to look after you all this time."

"No. She does not fight my battles."

"Truly, though. Hades must pay for these insults. Who was that demigod who took your memory? Bah! We must rip him to pieces, you and I, eh?"

"Ha-ha," Bob swallowed. "Yes, indeed. Rip him to pieces."

Percy's fingers closed around his pen. He didn't think much of Bobs brother, even without the ' _rip him to pieces_ ' threat. Compared to Bob's simple way of speaking, Koios sounded like he was reciting Shakespeare. That alone was enough to make Percy irritated. He was ready to uncap Riptide if he had to, but so far, Koios didn't seem to notice him or Annabeth. And Bob hadn't betrayed them yet, though he'd had plenty of opportunities.

"Ah, it's good to see you…" Koios drummed his fingers on his bear's-head helmet. "You remember what fun we had in the old days?"

"Of course!" Bob chirped. "When we, uh…"

"Holding down our father, Ouranos."

"Yes! We loved wrestling with Dad…"

"We restrained him."

"That's what I meant!"

"While Kronos cut him to pieces with his scythe."

"Yes, ha-ha." Bob looked mildly ill. "What fun."

"You grabbed Father's right foot, as I recall," Koios continued. "And Ouranos kicked you in the face as he struggled. How we used to tease you about that!"

"Silly me," Bob agreed.

"Sadly, our brother Kronos was dissolved by those impudent demigods." Koios heaved a sigh. "Bits and pieces of his essence remain, but nothing you could put together again. I suppose some injuries even Tartarus cannot heal."

"Alas!"

"Everything can be mended," No. 1 said. "But it will take a great deal of time and power. Either way, it seems Kronos cannot participate in this grand occasion."

"But the rest of us have another chance to shine, eh?" He leaned forward conspiratorially. "These giants may  _think_  they will rule. Let them be our shock troops and destroy the Olympians - all well and good. But once the Earth Mother is awake, she will remember that  _we_  are her eldest children. Mark my words. The Titans will yet rule the cosmos."

"Hmm," Bob said. "The giants may not like that."

"Spit on what  _they_  like. They've already passed through the Doors of Death, anyway, back to the mortal world. Polybotes was the last one, not half an hour ago, still grumbling about missing his prey. Apparently some demigods he was after got swallowed by Nyx. Never see  _them_  again, I wager!"

"Quite literally, since it's Nyx and all," No. 1 smiled.

If the giants had already passed through the Doors, then at least they wouldn't be hunting through Tartarus for Percy and Annabeth. Unfortunately, that also meant their friends in the mortal world were in even greater danger. All of the earlier fights with the giants had been in vain, as their enemies would be reborn as strong as ever.

"Well!" Koios drew his massive sword. The blade radiated a cold deeper than the Hubbard Glacier. "I must be off. Leto should have regenerated by now. I will convince her to fight."

"Of course," Bob murmured. "Leto."

Koios laughed. "You've forgotten my daughter, as well? I suppose it's been too long since you've seen her. The peaceful ones like her always take the longest to reform. This time, though, I'm sure Leto will fight for vengeance. The way Zeus treated her, after she bore him those fine twins? Outrageous!"

"Zeus is the cause of 90% of this world's problems," No. 1 sighed.

Leto: the mother of Apollo and Artemis. This guy Koios looked vaguely familiar because he had Artemis's cold eyes and Apollo's smile. The Titan was their grandfather, Leto's father. The idea almost gave No. 1 a migraine.

"Well! I'll see you in the mortal world!" Koios chest-bumped Bob, almost knocking the cat off his head and No. 1 had to brace herself. "Oh, and our two  _other_  brothers are guarding this side of the Doors, so you'll see them soon enough!"

"I will?"

"Count on it!"

Koios lumbered off, almost knocking over Percy and Annabeth as they scrambled out of his way. Before the crowd of monsters could fill the empty space, Percy motioned for Bob to lean in.

"You okay, big guy?" Percy whispered.

Bob frowned. "I do not know. In all this-" He gestured around them "-what is the meaning of ' _okay?_ '"

"Fair point," No. 1 muttered.

Annabeth peered towards the Doors of Death, though the crowd of monsters blocked them from view. "Did I hear that correctly? Two more Titans guarding our exit? That's not good."

"The south and the east," No. 1 remembered.

Percy looked at Bob, the Titan's distant expression worrying him. "Do you remember Koios?" He asked gently. "All that stuff he was talking about?"

Bob gripped his broom. "When he told it, I remembered. He handed me my past like…like a spear. But I do not know if I should take it. Is it still mine, if I do not want it?"

"No," Annabeth said firmly. "Bob, you're different now. You're  _better_.

The kitten jumped off Bob's head. He circled the Titan's feet, bumping his head against the Titan's pants cuffs. Bob didn't seem to notice. Percy wished he could be as certain as Annabeth. He wished he could tell Bob with absolute confidence that he should forget about his past. But Percy understood Bob's confusion. He remembered the day he'd opened his eyes at the Wolf House in California, his memory wiped clean by Hera. If somebody had been waiting for Percy when he first woke up, if they'd convinced Percy that his name was Bob, and he was a friend of the Titans and the giants…would Percy have believed it? Would he have felt betrayed once he found out his true identity?

" ** _This is different. We're the good guys._** "

But were they? Percy had left Bob in Hades's palace, at the mercy of a new master who hated him. Percy didn't feel like he had much right to tell Bob what to do now - even if their lives depended on it.

"I think you can choose, Bob," Percy ventured. "Take the parts of Iapetus's past that you want to keep. Leave the rest. Your future is what matters."

"Future…" Bob mused. "That is a mortal concept. I am not meant to change, Percy Friend." He gazed around him at the horde of monsters. "We are the same…forever."

"If you were the same, Annabeth and I would be dead already. Maybe we weren't meant to be friends, but we  _are_. You've been the best friend we could ask for."

Bob's silver eyes looked darker than usual. He held out his hand, and Small Bob the kitten jumped into it. No. 1 slid off Bob's shoulder and onto the ground before the Titan rose to his full height.

"Let us go, then, friends. Not much farther."

Stomping on Tartarus's heart wasn't nearly as much fun as it sounded, No. 1 decided. She wanted to say she was amazing, being who and what she was and living to survive this experience, but it was honestly drab. The purplish ground was slippery and constantly pulsing. It looked flat from a distance, but up close it was made of folds and ridges that got harder to navigate the farther they walked. Gnarled lumps of red arteries and blue veins gave them some footholds when they needed to climb, but the going was slow with the low stamina and Death Mist caution. They didn't want anything to make the Death Mist wear off, they weren't sure if a certain thought or lack of concentration could have something disturb their concentration, etc. And, of course, the monsters were everywhere. Packs of hellhounds prowled the plains, baying and snarling and attacking any monster that dropped its guard. Arai wheeled overhead on leathery wings, making ghastly dark silhouettes in the poison clouds.

Percy stumbled. His hand touched a red artery, and a tingling sensation went up his arm. "There's water here… _actual_  water."

Bob grunted. "One of the five rivers. His blood."

"His blood?" Annabeth stepped away from the nearest clump of veins. "I knew the Underworld rivers all emptied into Tartarus, but-"

"Yes," Bob agreed. "They all flow through his heart."

Percy traced his hand across a web of capillaries. Was the water of the Styx flowing beneath his fingers, or maybe the Lethe? If one of those veins popped when he stepped on it…Percy shuddered. He realized he was taking a stroll across the most dangerous circulatory system in the universe.

"We should hurry," Annabeth said. "If we can't…"

Her voice trailed off. Ahead of them, jagged streaks of darkness tore through the air - like lightning, except pure black. The sight made No. 1 smile. Very close now.

"The Doors," She said. "Must be a large group going through."

Percy's mouth tasted like gorgon's blood. Even if his friends from the Argo II managed to find the other side of the Doors of Death, how could they possibly fight the waves of monsters that were coming through, especially if all the giants were already waiting for them?

"Do all the monsters go through the House of Hades?" Percy asked. "How big  _is_  that place?"

Bob shrugged. "Perhaps they are sent elsewhere when they step through. The House of Hades is in the earth, yes? That is Gaea's realm. She could send her minions wherever she wishes."

Percy's spirits sank. Monsters coming through the Doors of Death to threaten his friends at Epirus - that was bad enough. Now he imagined the ground on the mortal side as one big subway system, depositing giants and other nasties anywhere Gaea wanted them to go - Camp Half-Blood, Camp Jupiter, or in the path of the Argo II before it could even reach Epirus.

"If Gaea has that much power, couldn't she control where  _we_  end up?" Annabeth asked.

Percy really hated that question. Sometimes he wished Annabeth wasn't so smart.

"You are not monsters," No. 1 reminded them. "It may yet be different for us."

Great, Percy thought. He didn't relish the idea of Gaea waiting for them on the other side, ready to teleport them into the middle of a mountain; but at least the Doors were a chance to get out of Tartarus. It wasn't like they had a better option.

Bob helped them over the top of another ridge, and then suddenly the Doors of Death were in plain view - a freestanding rectangle of darkness at the top of the next heart-muscle hill, about a quarter mile away, surrounded by a horde of monsters so think they could've walked on their heads all the way across. The Doors were still too far away to make out much detail, but the Titans flanking either side were familiar enough. The one on the left wore shining golden armor that shimmered with heat.

"Hyperion," Percy muttered. "That guy just won't stay dead."

The one on the right wore dark-blue armor, with ram's horns curling from the sides of his helmet. Now  _that_ one was Krios, the Titan that Jason had killed in the battle for Mount Tam. Koios was north, Krios was south (yeah not hard to confuse those guys at all), Hyperion was the east, Iapetus/Bob was the west.

"Bob's other brothers," Annabeth said. The Death Mist shimmered around her, temporarily turning her face into a grinning skull. "Bob, if you have to fight them, can you?"

Bob hefted his broom, like he was ready for a messy cleaning job. "We must hurry," He said, which No. 1 noticed wasn't really an answer. "Follow me."

No. 1 couldn't blame Bob for his evasiveness. It wasn't just a matter of Bob's mental willingness to fight his brothers, but it was also a matter of Bob being one of four brothers. He had been the one his brother's had made fun when he got kicked in the face by Ouranos holding down his foot; Bob was the one that they treated more as a joke of a brother rather than respecting him. Because he had lost his memories, they treated him like a lost pet to toy with. Bob was considered the weakest of his brothers - especially since he had changed from his murderous ways. Bob would not only be facing them should he choose to protect Percy and Annabeth in a worst-case scenario, but he would also be fighting all of these monsters.

So far, their Death Mist camouflage plan seemed to be working. So, naturally, Percy expected a massive last-minute fail. Fifty feet from the Doors of Death, he and Annabeth both froze.

"Oh, gods," Annabeth murmured. "They're the  _same_."

Framed in Stygian iron, the magical portal was a set of elevator doors - two panels of silver and black etched with art deco designs. Except for the fact that the colors were inverted, they looked exactly like the elevators in the Empire State Building, the entrance to Olympus. Seeing them, Percy felt so homesick, he couldn't breathe. He didn't just miss Mount Olympus, he missed everything he'd left behind: New York City, Camp Half-Blood, his mom and stepdad. His eyes stung; he didn't trust himself to talk. The Doors of Death seemed like a personal insult, designed to remind him of everything he couldn't have.

Meanwhile, No. 1 took in the other details: the frost spreading from the base of the Doors, the purplish glow in the air around them, and the chains that held them fast. Cords of black iron ran down either side of the frame, like rigging lines on a suspension bridge. They were tethered to hooks embedded in the fleshy ground. The two Titans, Krios and Hyperion, stood guard at the anchor points.

As the small group watched, the entire frame shuddered. Black lightning flashed into the sky, the chains shook, and the Titans planted their feet on the hooks to keep them secure. The Doors slid open, revealing the gilded interior of an elevator car. Percy tensed, ready to charge forward, but No. 1 quickly grabbed his wrist tightly.

"Wait."

Hyperion yelled to the surrounding crowd: "Group A-22! Hurry up, you sluggards!"

A dozen Cyclopes rushed forward, waving little red tickets and shouting excitedly. They shouldn't have been able to fit inside those human-sized doors, but as the Cyclopes got close, their bodies distorted and shrank, the Doors of Death sucking them inside. The Titan Krios jabbed his thumb against the  **UP**  button on the elevator's right side and the Doors slid closed. The frame shuddered again and the dark lightning faded.

"You must understand how it works," Bob muttered. He addressed No. 1 only to make sure that he didn't appear to be talking to Annabeth and Percy. "Each time the Doors open, they try to teleport to a new location. Thanatos made them this way, so only he could find them. But now they are chained; the Doors cannot relocate."

"The biggest question is why Thanatos invented them in the first place," No. 1 muttered.

"Then we cut the chains," Annabeth whispered.

Percy looked at the blazing form of Hyperion. The last time he'd fought the Titan, it had taken every ounce of his strength. Even then Percy had almost died. Now there were  _two_  Titans, with several thousand monsters for backup.

"Our camouflage," Percy said. "Will it disappear if we do something aggressive, like cutting the chains?"

"I do not know," Bob admitted.

"Mrow," Small Bob said.

The kitten leaned out to sniff No. 1, who smiled and set her stuffed poodle beside the kitten on Bob's hand. Small Bob sniffed the poodle before lying down beside it.

"Bob, No. 1, you'll have to distract them," Annabeth said. "Percy and I will sneak around the two Titans and cut the chains from behind."

"Yes, fine," Bob said. "But that is only one problem. Once you are inside the Doors, someone must stay outside to push the button and defend it."

Percy tried to swallow. "Uh…defend the button?"

Bob nodded, scratching his kitten under the chin. "Someone must keep pressing the  **UP**  button for twelve minutes, or the journey will not finish."

Percy glanced at the Doors. Sure enough, Krios still had this thumb jammed on the  **UP**  button. Twelve minutes. Somehow, they would have to get the Titans away from those doors. Then, Bob, Percy, Annabeth, or No. 1 would have to keep that button pushed for twelve long minutes, in the middle of an army of monsters in the heart of Tartarus, while the other three rode to the mortal world.

"Why twelve minutes?" Percy asked.

"I do not know," Bob said. "Why twelve Olympians, or twelve Titans?"

"Fair enough," Percy said, though he had a bitter taste in his mouth.

"What do you mean the journey won't finish?" Annabeth asked. "What happens to the passengers?"

Bob didn't answer. Judging from his pained expression, Percy decided he didn't want to be in that elevator if the car stalled between Tartarus and the mortal world.

Percy looked to the doors. "If we  _do_  push the button for twelve minutes, and the chains are cut-"

"The Doors should reset," Bob said. "That is what they are supposed to do. They will disappear from Tartarus. They will appear somewhere else, where Gaea cannot use them."

"Thanatos can reclaim them," No. 1 continued. "Death goes back to normal, and the monsters lose their shortcut to the mortal world."

Percy exhaled. "Easy-peasy. Except for…well, everything."

Small Bob purred. No. 1 took her stuffed poodle back.

"I will push the button," Bob volunteered.

A mix of feelings churned in Percy's gut - grief, sadness, gratitude, and guilt thickening into emotional cement. "Bob, we can't ask you to do that. You want to go through the Doors too. You want to see the sky again, and the stars, and-"

"I would like that," Bob agreed. "But someone must push the button. And once the chains are cut…my brethren will fight to stop your passage. They will not want the Doors to disappear."

"My Remnants might be able to defend against this horde for the allotted time," No. 1 said. "So long as I make it to the surface, their actions will not hold weight. Our greatest concern lies with the destruction of the chains. The one who chained them in the first place is a powerful one. Chaos itself. Only one who has the blessing of Chaos might be able to sever the chains. My Original, she may yet have that power. Because I am the Remnant of Rei Chikara, I may yet utilize her power as a potential Chaos host. But to hopefully receive the blessing of Chaos, I fear I may not be able to defend against the monsters. I could be wrong - the chains could be as easy to sever as rope with your weapons. Or they could be protected by Chaos's power. In which case, I will attempt to do what I can. I can't promise I'll be of much use if I fail, and even if I succeed, it may take time."

The cement settled in Percy's stomach. He had always suspected how this would end. He would have to stay behind. While Bob and No. 1 fended off the army and broke the chains (or both), Percy would hold the elevator button and make sure Annabeth got to safety. Somehow, he had to convince her to go without him. As long as she was safe and the Doors disappeared, he could die knowing he'd done something right. Unfortunately, Annabeth would rather die with Percy than life without him. Love, survivor's guilt, Annabeth would not stand for Percy sacrificing himself.

"Percy…?" Annabeth stared at him, a suspicious edge to her voice.

She was too smart. If he met her eyes, she would see exactly what he was thinking.

"First things first," Percy said. "Let's try and cut those chains the old fashioned way. If that doesn't work, we start going with Plan B."


	35. Fun While It Lasted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gotta admit, this part of the story was meant to be complicated, but it's not what I initially planned because stories develop as you make 'em. I'm working to get back on track to where all of the notes and clips that I previously made for this part can be incorporated. Then we get to BoO! We're so close friends!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> ;)

First Person: Zytaveon

"You know, you should consider getting more hand-to-hand combat lessons."

"I don't…need…your commentary…"

I kicked Lu in the stomach as hard as I could. In my defense, I was only returning the favor for the times that she kneed me in the stomach, punched me in the solar plexus, poked me behind the ear so hard that I thought my jaw was gonna come off, kicked my knees out from behind (it was nicer than kicking them from in front and shattering a kneecap or two), dislocating an arm, and twisting the other up my back between my shoulder blades so far that resulted in me thinking that  _it_  had been dislocated in some way as well.

She staggered back as I pulled myself up, but she didn't give me the chance to recover because she tackled me down without caution, pinning me down with some kind of professional move.

"You should have taken wrestling in high school," Lu said flatly.

"As  _if_. You know I'm not a sporty person."

"Because sports are too low of stakes compared to killing monsters," Order sighed. "I  _know_. Sports are for entertainment, but I don't understand how something so boring gets forced down your mortal throats. But  _this_  is  _not_  supposed to be a  _sport_. You're supposed to be killing each other and making it hurt!"

"But this is more fun," Lu said with a small sadistic smirk and pulling the arm that had been dislocated and then hastily fixed again and was still sore as hell - as if the rest of me wasn't  _also_  sore.

"Would you idiots  _please_  stop playing around?!" Chaos snapped. "Order, it's  _your_  turn in  _three minutes_."

He was holding up a barrier around us all, leaving a space about the size of a softball field, the ground a mat of grass that we were supposed to be attempting to 'break me' on. In all honesty, that sounded worse than it actually was. Both of the Primordials were working together to protect against Tartarus, but they had yet to be restored to their full power, meaning they needed to take turns while the other recovered. Right now, Order was off-duty and attempting to figure out what was going wrong.

"No, no, no. We need something  _worse_. Worse than killing your little girlfriend and all your friends and we can't very well have you fight your father - now  _that_  would cause havoc should he perish. The Underworld is unstable enough at the moment without him dying. I know! How about your mother?"

"I barely even  _knew_  my mother. The only thing I have of her are memories, and memories that I only recently even got  _back_."

"Adoptive parents?"

"They don't deserve to be brought into this. They're not a part of the Olympian life. They're just mortals."

Order clapped his hands. "Then we'll go with them."

"Order-"

"The more you hate it, the more I love it, little Zyta."

" _Next time_ ," Chaos demanded. "You can try that out  _next time_. But for now, it's Order's turn."

He rolled his eyes at his darker look-alike. Both of them looked like me at the moment, which was kinda disconcerting. "Fine, fine. Hand over the baton."

Order waved his hand up at the barrier around us and it flashed. The Lu that was currently holding me down disappeared and my injuries disappeared, which was a big weight off my shoulders.

Chaos exhaled deeply and lowered his arms. "Finally. Now, it's my turn to work with you, Zytaveon."

"I don't even understand  _why_  we have to work with each other. I thought I gained both of your favor."

"That's what's so curious. I attempted to use you, but something went wrong. Something's interfering. I'd like to simplify it down to Tartarus and Gaea playing dirty, but in all honesty, I just don't know."

"What if it's not  _my_  fault, but yours?"

He looked up at me curiously.

"I mean, you're not very ancient and Primordial right now. You're…pretty average. Pretty… _human_. Order and I…we said that we'd save you and Lu whether you liked it or not. But I don't think we ever got the chance."

"You showed me why you keep fighting, Zytaveon. You fight for a future you know you can never have, but the illusion of it is enough to push you forward. I can't feel that drive, not on my own. That was why I gave you my favor. It takes a heart that will never give in to renew my will to go on for just a little longer. It takes a heart that will last me a few centuries before it wears out. Eventually, my hosts always give in to despair with my influence upon them. Meanwhile, Order's hosts often go mad with power and his…eccentric way of life. So long as we stay together, we can delay the process. Or we can stay out of human affairs altogether, but Order gets bored very easily - as do I. When you're above everything in the world, it's about as interesting as sitting around doing nothing for eternity with no emotions or feelings while the world beneath you constantly changes and evolves. We like to watch the stories that happen, we like to come down and feel real emotions. We didn't invent you with emotions, you know. We made you for a single purpose: to evolve. We made gods to watch over the world, but we made you humans as the ones who would wield the gods' power to the fullest. Love, hate, light, darkness - we gave it all to you and wanted to see what you did with it."

"And you guys like to come down and see us. Right. I get that."

He shook his head. "To Order, there is always something new and exciting. To me…all I see is so much sameness. There are liars and cheaters and those who hurt others for no reason other than they want to. There are those who do horrible things in the name of a just cause, there are those who lie to themselves to keep going. There are bad people who use their power and wealth to oppress others, and there are the masses who somehow still believe they're good people. There are those who are foolish and callous in charge of making great decisions, there are races for popularity that make people into terrible monsters for the sake of victory. There is love, but love rarely ever lasts simply because it's ephemeral like everything else. Instead of using the knowledge that everything ends to the fullest, people waste what they have. It's so hard to do what you love because life just doesn't work that way. Why doesn't life just work that way? Where people can choose their paths and enjoy it? Why are the most popular people also the ones that have to make themselves suffer for the sake of their appearance? How long will it take to make everyone happy? This world is so destructive, that I just want to see it end sometimes."

" _But_ …"

"But there are also good things. There are quiet moments of relaxation within the pandemonium. There are those that do what they love in exchange for hard work and struggle. There are benevolent people, those with integrity who feel good doing good things without an audience ever having to look. There are parents and children who love each other, there are lovers that dedicate themselves to their partner for however long they have. There are frail people who make the most of their life because they know better than anyone how much you can possibly lose. There are people who don't have a lot, but they have enough - a single friend they can count on, a single hobby that never ceases to make them smile, a single place they feel secure, an object that gives them strength when they need it most. And there are people with a lot more. Many friends - many to lose, but many to cherish in turn. Many hobbies they love to do, many objects that help them be happy, confidence and strength even when sometimes life is hard. And their will to keep going, no matter how tough life gets…that's what I need. I need to find those good reasons in the sea of bad to continue forward and learn to enjoy my life anew. I can't do what Order does, finding fun in every little thing. But I can find those quiet moments and those single things and start my discovery of life again and again."

"So did you find that in me?"

He nodded. "Yes. However…there is still this empty feeling inside me." His eyes looked at the grass beneath us, his mind processing things in deep thought. "It should have worked. We should have done it. So why can't I feel your presence? Unless…"

He raised his eyes to the dome, and they widened just a fraction of an inch.

"What?" I asked.

"Unless you're out of our reach."

"You're the ones who brought me here. I'm with you guys. I earned your power."

"Too late. It was too late; it was  _always_  too late."

"What do you  _mean?_ "

He looked me in the eyes, a mixture of horror and pity on his face. "I'm sorry. We failed you. We failed you, my son. All of this happened because we failed."

I stared at him for a long moment before sighing. "Well  _that_  was quick. You always  _were_  so pessimistic, Chaos. It's hard to keep you distracted for very long. Now  _Order_  I expected to have some challenges containing, but  _you_ …you are easy to contain, but not easy to fool. Well, I suppose it's less  _fooling_  you and more keeping you complacently preoccupied. Order gets distracted by every shiny thing in existence, but  _you're_  so down and dreary that you never look at things twice because you're so uninterested and  _boring_. But I guess I was wrong about you. You don't look at things twice because you're uninterested - it's because you've observed every little detail before you can even become invested. You see the good and the bad and everything in between and then you no longer care and you move onto the next thing, while Order over analyzes things slowly with more investment and excitement. You were always so much smarter, but also so much  _duller_."

I snapped and the barrier around the area instantly shattered. Order gasped and was thrown back as the tidal wave of darkness flowed through. Order and Chaos scrambled together as the fake world around them disappeared and they were left floating in the howling winds of darkness. I floated up above them as the grass at my feet dissolved, the power surrounding me and emerging  _from_  me. My eyes went black, the sound of screaming souls writhing in agony filled my ears and made me smile. I could only laugh at the pain now, I could only submit to a will that wasn't my own.

" _It doesn't matter that the illusion broke. It was only there to keep you entertained, thinking you had somehow won your prize._ "

"Tartarus,  _stop_  this!" Order snapped.

I laughed, the sound distorted and warped. " _And why would I do_ that _when I have the two of you at my mercy? Your power may lie beneath me in the darkest depths of my pit, surrounding and consuming me, but so long as I have your Existences contained here, you pose no threat to me._ "

Order, ever the trigger-happy Primordials he was, shot his hand forward and released a blast of energy strong enough to rip through Tartarus's power and blast him, but while he flinched, the swirling power quickly closed in again and he recovered in the air.

" _Attack me all you want, but I've extracted only your consciousness - the one you flaunt around jumping from host to host with. I didn't take your actual power, that would be foolish. Your power is just sitting beneath my pit, worthless without the Existence of you that I've trapped. And you yourselves are worthless without the rest of your power. It seems I've out-smarted the both of you._ "

If there was one thing to be said about Order in his natural state, it was that he was easy to provoke. He attacked again, sending a wave of attacks at Tartarus - at me. I had to work to block most of them, but once I put in the effort, it became almost too easy. Order was angry, he just wanted to get in a single hit and show his rage, but it wouldn't work. Eventually, he began to tire out, his entire body flickering with a lack of power.

" _Careful, dear Order. If you keep using up your raw Existence like that, you might just finish yourselves off before I can._ "

"You're just looking to keep up trapped forever," Chaos accused. "Forever your pets, an eternal reminder of your superiority - an eternal boost of your ego."

I shrugged with a smile. " _You know your creations so well, Chaos. This is your prison. You can play with me in here all you want, but it won't matter. I've got both your toys under my thumb; my victory has already begun. This here is just a small piece of me that's here to keep you two entertained. The rest of me is off somewhere else, executing my victory. Your creations are fighting their battles in vain, and I will enjoy their struggle. The world you made will no longer exist to cater to the whims of the foolish mortals you favored so heavily - making all of us there to serve_ them _. We will turn the world of humans into a world of monsters and Primordial deities. A shame. You could've made it this way from the beginning, and perhaps you could've joined us like you did with your lesser creations._ "

"We didn't put you in charge for a  _reason_ ," Order hissed, still attempting to regain his breath. "We made them weak, but we made them diverse. We didn't give them the powers that we gave you, but we gave them the ability to utilize them all - all of their emotions, from joy to hatred, all of the times of day, all of the personality types, all of the skills. If we'd given  _you_  the world, then you would've just turned it into a wasteland of brutality and no  _change_ , no  _evolution_ , no  _creativity_  - you would've destroyed the world long before it could flourish. All of you are single creations, single concepts - strife, old age, times of day. Most of the current gods are like that as well - revenge and contempt, love and beauty - but at least they strove to be less brutal and more strategic above how they run the world. They invented music and marriage and loyalty and sacrifice and it was  _beautiful_  and  _yes_  it was flawed but it could strive to be  _better_. You…all you creatures are going to do when you take over is destroy. You'll destroy that which you abhor, but soon you will run out of things to hate, and then you will start to destroy  _yourselves_. It is inevitable. Don't make me create a prophecy about it. I  _will_."

I rolled my eyes and made a Primordial scoff. " _Enough with your philosophical bullshit._ "

Order scoffed. "Forgive me for attempting to make you at least a  _little_  upset when I'm facing my end. My creations taught me that if you can't hurt one with strength, you can hurt them with words."

I huffed. " _Well I hope you had your fun. Enjoy your eternity of defeat. I know I certainly will_."

With that, Tartarus pulled us away, leaving the two Primordial beings under watch, but without any Tartarus to plead to.

Order chuckled to himself bitterly. "Children usurping the seat of power. We should've seen this coming. We made it happen so many times in history, all for a change of scenery. Why should it have been any different with us?"

"The difference is that we're the beginning of everything, Order. We can still shut it all down. We can start over."

Order frowned. "No matter how bad it's gotten in the past…we've never done that. There's no going back if we do."

"It's either that or go dormant until the world eventually ends on its own. It'd end all your fun either way; it'd end all my joy.

He hesitated. "We lose everything either way."

Chaos shrugged. "You never know. We could wait it out and have faith that our creations are as strong as we created them to be."

Order scoffed at the absurdity of the situation. "Why am  _I_  the negative one here and  _you're_  the positive? Ugh. I spent too much time in the mortal world without you, having to become all serious and down in the dumps to keep myself stable."

Chaos smiled. "Well, once everything seems hopeless, I suppose even  _I_  have things that I like about the world and don't want to lose. Even  _I_  can be positive sometimes."

"It's the end of the world, all right. Ragnarok, Armageddon, all that jazz."

"Well?  _Is_  it?"

Order stared into the infinite void of Tartarus's essence. "I suppose it is. It really is."

Order took his hand and began to glow white, reverting to their original form. Chaos closed his eyes and did the same. A bight void filled with power too blinding to comprehend, too confusing, too much potential, too much creation. A dark void that had nothing, that consumed everything, that ended all that would ever exist - like a black hole that not even light could escape. The two Primordials gave away everything that they had changed about themselves from the moment they had existed. They were creation and destruction, a cycle that created an entire universe and made it wonderful. And they would bring it to an end once more, as it was always destined to be.

" ** _I suppose…it was fun while it lasted._** "

* * *

Third Person: No. 1

"Iapetus!" Hyperion bellowed. "Well, well, I thought you were hiding under a cleaning bucket somewhere."

Bob lumbered forward, scowling. "I was not hiding."

Percy crept toward the right side of the Doors; Annabeth sneaked towards the left. The two of them decided they would try to cut the chains on their own with their blades enhanced with the power of the Remnants for whatever good it did. If No. 1 needed to find her own way to break the chains, she would, but so long as even the small parts of her Remnants had the power of Chaos - and that was a long shot on its own - then hopefully Annabeth and Percy could get the job done quickly. The Titans gave no sign of noticing them, but they took no chances. Percy kept Riptide in pen form, crouched low, stepping as quietly as possible. The lesser monsters kept a respectful distance from the Titans, so there was enough empty space to maneuver around the Doors; but Percy was keenly aware of the snarling mob at his back. Annabeth had decided to take the side Hyperion was guarding, on the theory that Hyperion was more likely to sense Percy. After all, Percy was the last one to have killed him in the mortal world. That was fine with Percy. After being in Tartarus for so long, he could barely look at Hyperion's burning golden armor without getting spots in his eyes. On Percy's side of the Doors, Krios stood dark and silent, his ram's-headed helmet covering his face. He kept one foot planted on the chain's anchor and his thumb on the  **UP**  button. Bob faced his brethren. He planted his spear and tried to look as fierce as possible with a kitten and a little smiling girl in a pink dress on his shoulder.

"Hyperion and Krios. I remember you both."

"Do you, Iapetus?" The golden Titan laughed, glancing at Krios to share the joke. "Well, that's good to know! I heard Percy Jackson turned you into a brainwashed scullery maid. What did he rename you…? Betty?"

"Bob," Bob snarled.

"Well, it's about time you showed up,  _Bob_. Krios and I have been stuck here for  _weeks_ -"

"Hours," Krios corrected, his voice a deep rumble inside his helmet.

"Whatever!" Hyperion said. "It's boring work, guarding these doors, shuffling monsters through at Gaea's orders. Krios, what's our next group, anyway?"

"Double Red."

Hyperion sighed. The flames glowed hotter across his shoulders. "Double Red. Why do we go from A-22 to Double Red? What kind of system is  _that?_ " He glared at Bob. "This is no job for me - the Lord of Light! Titan of the East! Master of Dawn! Why am  _I_  forced to wait in the darkness while the  _giants_  go into battle and get all the glory? Now,  _Krios_  I can understand-"

"I get all the worst assignments," Krios muttered, his thumb still on the button.

"But  _me?_  Ridiculous! This should be  _your_  job, Iapetus. Here, take my place for a while."

Bob stared at the Doors, but his gaze was distant - lost in the past. "The four of us held down our father, Ouranos. Koios, and me, and the two of you. Kronos promised us mastery of the four corners of the earth for helping with the murder."

"Indeed," Hyperion said. "And I was happy to do it! I would've wielded the scythe myself if I'd had the chance! But you,  _Bob_ …you were always conflicted about that killing, weren't you? The  _soft_  Titan of the West, soft as the sunset! Why our parents named you the  _Piercer_ , I will never know. More like the  _Whimper_. And just  _look_  at the company you're keeping!"

"I am the strongest one here," No. 1 said, crossing her legs as she sat on Bob's shoulder. "Besides, I'm able to use my Original's blessing of Chaos to my benefit. That means, I can  _run_  this hizz-house. And I'd say that Bob can pierce just fine. Can't you, Bob?"

Percy reached the anchor hook. He uncapped his pen and Riptide grew to full length. Krios didn't react - his attention was firmly fixed on Bob, who had just leveled the point of his spear at Hyperion's chest.

"You brag too much, Hyperion," Bob said, his voice low and even. "You are bright and fiery, but Percy Jackson defeated you anyway. I hear you became a nice tree in Central Park."

Hyperion's eyes smoldered. "Careful, brother."

"At least a janitor's work is honest. I clean up after others; I leave the palace better than I found it. But  _you_ …you do not care what messes you make. You followed Kronos blindly. Now you take orders from Gaea."

"She is our  _mother!_ " Hyperion bellowed.

"She did not wake for  _our_  war on Olympus. She favors her second brood, the giants."

Krios grunted. "That's true enough. The children of the pit."

"Both of you hold your tongues!" Hyperion snapped, his voice tinged with fear. "You never know when he is listening."

The elevator dinged and all three Titans jumped. Had it really been twelve minutes? No. 1 had lost track of time.

Krios took his finger off the button and called out, "Double Red! Where is Double Red?!"

Hordes of monsters stirred and jostled one another, but none of them came forward.

Krios heaved a sigh. "I  _told_  them to hang on to their tickets. Double Red! You'll lose your place in the queue!"

Annabeth was in position, right behind Hyperion. She raised her drakon-bone sword over the base of the chains. In the fiery light of the Titan's armor, her Death Mist disguise made her look like a burning ghoul. She held up three fingers, ready to count down. They had to cut the chains before the next group tried to take the elevator, but they also had to make sure the Titans were as distracted as possible.

Hyperion muttered a curse. "Just  _wonderful_. This will completely mess up our schedule." He sneered at Bob. "Make your choice, brother. Fight us or help us. I don't have time for your lectures."

Bob glanced at Annabeth and Percy. He considered what would be the best distraction that would allow them the chance they needed - peaceful or violent. Finally, he raised the point of his spear.

"Very well. I will take guard duty. Which of you wants a break first?"

"Me, of course," Hyperion said.

"Me!" Krios snapped. "I've been holding that button so long my thumb is going to fall off."

"I've been standing here longer. You two guard the Doors while  _I_  go up to the mortal world. I have some Greek heroes to wreak vengeance upon!"

"Oh, no! That Roman boy is on his way to Epirus - the one who killed me on Mount Othrys. Got lucky, he did. Now it's my turn."

"Bah!" Hyperion drew his sword. "I'll gut you first, Ram-head!"

Krios raised his own blade. "You can try, but I won't be stuck in this stinking pit any longer!"

Annabeth caught Percy's eyes. She mouthed: ' _One, two-_ '

Before they could strike the chains, a high-pitched whine pierced through the air, like the sound of an incoming rocket. There was just enough time to think ' _Uh-oh_ ' before an explosion rocked the hillside. A wave of heat knocked Percy and Annabeth backwards. Dark shrapnel ripped through Krios and Hyperion, shredding them as easily as wood in a chipper.

" _STINKING PIT_."

A hollow voice rolled across the plains, shaking the warm fleshy ground. Bob staggered to his feet. Somehow the explosion hadn't touched him. He swept his spear in front of him, trying to locate the source of the voice. Small Bob the kitten crawled into his overalls. No. 1 had fallen off of Bob's shoulders, picking herself up and grabbing her stuffed animal as she looked up to the voice. Annabeth had landed about twenty feet from the Doors, and the Death Mist had evaporated from both her and Percy. Their disguises were gone.

" _TITANS_ ," The voice said disdainfully. " _LESSER BEINGS. IMPERFECT AND WEAK._ "

In front of the Doors of Death, the air darkened and solidified. The being who appeared was so massive, radiating such pure malevolence, that No. 1 felt a fear she hadn't felt since she had first died - a real little girl in a world so much bigger and scarier and out of her control. She wanted to crawl away and hide. She squeezed her stuffed toy insecurely. She forced her eyes to trace the god's form, starting with his black iron boots, each one as large as a coffin. His legs were covered in dark greaves; his flesh all thick purple muscle, like the ground. His armored skirt was made from thousands of blackened, twisted bones, woven together like chain links and clasped in place by a belt of interlocking monstrous arms. On the surface of the warrior's breastplate, murky faces appeared and submerged - giants, Cyclopes, gorgons, and drakon - all pressing against the armor as if trying to get out. The warrior's arms were bare - muscular, purple, and glistening - his hands as large as crane scoops.

His head was probably the scariest part of him, the one that filled No. 1 with the most dread. His helmet was twisted rock and metal with no particular shape - just jagged spikes and pulsing patches of magma. His entire face was a whirlpool - an inward spiral of darkness. As they watched, the last particles of Titan essence from Hyperion and Krios were vacuumed into the warrior's maw. Once they were gone, the whirlpool that was his face solidified and disappeared into a face No. 1 knew because of her most recent Remnants.

"Oh, gods, Veon,  _no_ …"

No. 1 had been pushed to her limits over a thousand times. She'd known pain and suffering beyond anything she could've imagined and yet her mother's blessing (or curse, rather) had always saved her. She had felt invincible, she  _had_  been invincible. She felt that the other monsters in Tartarus were lesser beings, but her power was still that of a human. Her mother was a mysterious goddess, a powerful one, manufactured from human rather than the Primordials. That had always made her more powerful than the rest of the deities, but she wasn't on the levels of a Primordial so ancient that he could be considered older than the world itself. Tartarus had come before Gaea, Tartarus was where life was born and death was only a temporary torture, Tartarus was a most ancient and deadly power. And now he had the power of Order and Chaos thanks to Zytaveon being his host.

"Tartarus," Percy managed.

He made a sound like a mountain cracking in half: a roar or a laugh, they couldn't be sure.

" _This form is only a small manifestation of my power. But it is enough to deal with you. I do not interfere lightly, little demigod. It is beneath me to deal with gnats such as yourself._ "

No. 1 felt a part of her heart break at hearing the undertones of Veon's voice beneath the rumble of Tartarus's.

" ** _You were supposed to save me. I was supposed so save you. We were supposed to save Order and Chaos_**."

"Uh…" Percy's legs threatened to collapse under him. "Don't…you know…go to any trouble."

" _You have proven surprisingly resilient,_ " Tartarus said. " _You have come too far. I can no longer stand by and watch your progress._ "

Tartarus spread his arms. Throughout the valley, thousands of monsters wailed and roared, clashing their weapons and bellowing in triumph. The Doors of Death shuddered in their chains.

" _Be honored, little demigods,_ " The god of the pit said. " _Even the Olympians were never worthy of my personal attention. But_ you _will be destroyed by Tartarus himself!_ "

Someday, No. 1 thought to herself, she would get to tell the story of how the world ended with the ding of an elevator. Somehow, the Doors of Death had operated on their own, and the first one to step through made No. 1 speak without even thinking about it.

"Big sister."

* * *

First Person: Emily

I'm not sure why Frank was hoping for fireworks. Or at least a big sign that read:  **WELCOME HOME**

More than three thousand years ago, his Greek ancestor - good old Periclymenus the shape-shifter - had sailed east with the Argonauts. Centuries later, Periclymenus's descendants had served in the eastern Roman legions. Then, through a series of misadventures, the family had ended up in China, finally emigrating to Canada in the twentieth century. Now Frank was back in Greece, which meant that the Zhang family had completely circled the globe. That seemed like cause for celebration, but the only welcoming committee was a flock of wild, hungry harpies who attacked the ship. Frank felt kinda bad as he shot them down with his bow. He kept thinking of Ella, our freakishly smart harpy friend from Portland. But these harpies weren't Ella. They gladly would have chewed Frank's face off. So he blasted them into clouds of dust and feathers.

The Greek landscape below was just as inhospitable. The hills were strewn with boulders and stunted cedars, all shimmering in the hazy air, the sun beat down as if trying to hammer the countryside into a Celestial bronze shield, and even from a hundred feet up, we could hear the drone of cicadas buzzing in the trees - a sleepy, otherworldly sound that made my eyes heavy. Even the dueling voices of the war gods inside Frank's head seemed to have dozed off. They had hardly bothered him at all since the crew had crossed into Greece.

I wiped sweat from my forehead. After the whole freezing situation with Khione, I had thought that I'd never be warm again, but now I was drenched in sweat. Kaze and Azrael were identically sitting out in the sun with ease, both staring off in deep thought blankly. They didn't seem affected by the heat. Audrey was helping boost the ship forwards as fast as possible towards Epirus, and her sweat only seemed to be coming from the straining of her powers considering she was drenching herself in the cool passing seawater specifically to keep her power going. Lu was standing up on the mast, watching the sea pass and keeping her eyes intently on the horizon and looking for when land became visible in the distance. Perched atop the foremast beside her was Nico, also looking out to sea and keeping his eyes on the black lightning of the Doors of Death.

"Hot and steamy!" Leo exclaimed, grinning at the helm. "Makes me homesick for Houston! What do you say, Hazel? All we need now are some giant mosquitoes and it'll feel just like the Gulf Coast!"

"Thanks lot, Leo," Hazel grumbled. "We'll probably get attacked by Ancient Greek mosquito monsters now."

"I don't think there are such things," Audrey called from the front of the ship. How she overheard the conversation and how we could hear her from so far away, I guessed it had something to do with water. "At least that I researched. How about we  _not_  test the theory?"

Frank studded the two of them, quietly marveling how the tension between them had disappeared. Whatever had happened to Leo during his five days of exile, it had changed him. He still joked around, but Frank sensed something different about him - like a ship with a new keel. Maybe you couldn't  _see_  the keel, but you could tell it was there by the way the ship cut through the waves. Leo didn't seem so intent on teasing Frank; he chatted more easily with Hazel - not stealing those wistful, mooning glances that had always made Frank uncomfortable.

Hazel had diagnosed the problem privately to Frank: "He met something."

Frank was incredulous. "How? Where? How could you possibly know?"

Hazel smiled. "I just do."

"She's right," Emily said later on. "His heart aches, but it makes him into a new person while he hopes to finish this quest and return safe and sound."

Frank stared at Hazel. He just didn't get how women knew these things without being children of love gods. Of course, he was relieved that Leo wasn't hitting on his girl, but Frank was also kind of worried about Leo. Sure, they'd had their differences, but after all they'd been through together, Frank didn't want to see Leo get his heart broken.

"There!" Nico shouted. He pointed toward a glittering green river snaking through the hills a kilometer away. "Maneuver us that way. We're close to the temple.  _Very_  close."

As if to prove his point, black lightning ripped through the sky, leaving dark spots before my eyes and making the hairs on my arm stand up. It almost felt like my entire body was filled with electricity. We'd once had a physics teacher that had us stand on chairs and make a long line all connected to one of those electricity machines that we could touch. We'd gotten nearly the entire class in a long line and then one person touched a metal doorframe to let the current go through and all of us had gotten a bad zap - nothing dangerous, but painful all the same. I felt like I was in that line right now, electricity surging through me and building, but the only way to discharge it would be to suffer through a bad zap. The anxiety itself was more disturbing than the electricity.

Jason strapped on his sword belt. "Everyone, arm yourself. Leo, Audrey, get us close, but don't land - no more contact with the ground than necessary. Piper, Hazel, get the mooring ropes."

"On it!" Piper called.

Hazel gave Frank a peck on the cheek and ran to help.

"Frank," Jason called. "Get below and find Coach Hedge."

"Yep!"

He hurried down the stairs.

"Kaze, will you fight with us?" Lu asked her brother.

"I do not know what to do," Kaze said. "Mother has given no orders. Tsuchi has given no orders. If Mother gives me orders, I am unsure if I can resist."

"You mean she has some kind of control over you?"

"Over my body," He corrected. "My body is made from her earth. My soul is held captive within its crust."

"I can give his soul power," Azrael announced. "I can prevent Gaea's full control."

She nodded. "Good. Thank you. Kaze, do you have your weapon?"

He nodded, reaching into his trench coat and pulling out the weapon. The blade snapped free, then the second beneath it, and then the two blades for either side. Azrael stared at the weapon in amazement as Kaze sheathed all four blades at once and stuck the hilt back into his jacket.

"We're going to a very dangerous place," Lu said. "I don't know if the House of Hades will be safe for both of you, no matter your heritage, Azrael."

"My mother told me to help you. I can go and remain where she cannot because I am alive. She can go into Tartarus for a short amount of time. I assume I can survive as well."

"Percy and Annabeth can survive Tartarus without any assistance, so I'd assume so too. If you're sure, we'll protect you with all that we have."

"Kaze will protect me. He is fast, I can touch his soul. You must focus on your task. My parents tell me you have a hard job, but you are the only one who can save them all. You must know: you may never be human again. And this trial is not the end of your journey."

She nodded. "I know."

It was weird. She had never been without a deity inside her, ever since I'd met her. Though she was the same person, she was also…emptier. It left a feeling in me like after I'd done a really long run for gym class and cooled down, left really drained of energy.

I felt some agitation below deck from Coach and I realized that Frank might have caught him making a message to Mellie. Hedge and Mellie had gotten married back at the end of May just before the Argo II sailed. They hadn't made a big deal about it. Mellie had taken a break from her job in L.A. and gone to Camp Half-Blood for the summer since they figured it'd be safer, but now it was surrounded by hostile Romans. She might've just floated away normally, but she was pregnant, and it would be unsafe for her to attempt an escape now. Hedge had been pretty open about admitting things to me - even without my powers over emotions. He told the story of how when he'd brought Clarisse to Camp Half-Blood he'd had a dream about his mother being in trouble. He'd thought it was just a dream, but when he went looking for his mom afterwards, it had been too late. He never knew what happened to her, but he'd always regret it and wonder what he might have been able to do. Now, his wife and unborn child were in danger halfway across the world and he couldn't be there to help.

The ship began to descent, jolting me out of my thoughts. When Frank got back up with Hedge, everyone made preparations for the landing. Leo pulled Frank and Hazel aside to show off the new fire-proof cloth that he'd gotten from his secret trip and how it could help protect Frank's firewood. I knew that I'd be able to get Leo to tell me about who the person he met was, but I decided it was best to keep it as secret as I could to myself. My emotional powers were still very strong, attempting to influence me with every person that I came into contact with, but I was getting control of it.

I began to realize what my gifts were. I could take on both the emotions and memories of a person as well as the appearance of someone thanks to the Dove of Aphrodite. I could use my fire to heal, I was invincible, but even so I had little offensive abilities. I could become others though, and if I could become others, that gave me any power that I wanted to have from my friends. It meant I could connect the Primordials, it meant that I might be able to sort out the whole messed up situation and fix the damage that had been done. With Lu up here, there was no telling the mix of emotion and terror that was happening with Veon in Tartarus, fighting off and attempting to win the favor of Primordials themselves. We needed to help them, and at this point, the only way to get to Tartarus were the Doors of Death. We needed to use them, then seal them. It was an impossible task, one that we might not make it out of.

Strangely, knowing that I was most likely going to die didn't make me afraid. Or perhaps that was just me feeling what Lu felt. She was purposely blocking out emotions, able to hide them even from me and my sensitive powers. Her mental walls were strong, but at the same time, they were fragile. When I focused on her, I got a nervous feeling of being on the edge, and if I lost my concentration for even a second, I would be overwhelmed by a tsunami of emotions that I would drown in.

"Hey, guys!" Piper called from the bow. "Better get over here. You need to see this."

We'd found the source of the dark lightning. The Argo II hovered directly over the river. A few hundred meters away, at the top of the nearest hill, stood a cluster of ruins. They didn't look like much - just some crumbling walls encircling the limestone shells of a few buildings - but from somewhere within the ruin, tendrils of black ether curled into the sky, like a smoky squid peeking from its cave. As we watched, a bolt of dark energy ripped through the air, rocking the ship and sending a cold shockwave across the landscape.

"The Necromanteion," Nico announced. "The House of Hades."

I took a deep breath. Guess it was too late to suggest turning back. You knew that things were bad once you started feeling nostalgic about fighting regular old monsters. Those poison cows in Venice seemed more appealing than this place.

Piper hugged her arms. "I feel vulnerable floating up here like this. Couldn't we set down in the river?"

"I wouldn't," Hazel said. "That's the River Acheron."

Jason squinted in the sunlight. "I thought the Acheron was in the Underworld."

"It is. But its headwaters are in the mortal world. That river below us? Eventually it flows underground, straight into the realm of Pluto - er, Hades. Landing a demigod ship in those waters-"

"Yeah, let's stay up here," Leo decided. "I don't want any zombie water on my hull."

Half a kilometer downstream, some fishing boats were puttering along. I guessed they didn't know or care about the history of this river. Must be nice, being a regular mortal. Nico raised the scepter of Diocletian. Its orb glowed with purple light, as if in sympathy with the dark storm. Roman relic or not, the scepter troubled the crew, I could feel it. If it really had the power to summon a legion of the dead…well, it made them all nervous to say the least. Frank in particular had once been told the children of Mars had the ability to call on ghostly soldiers from the losing side of any war to serve him. He'd never had much luck with that power, probably because it freaked him out too much. He was worried he might  _become_  one of those ghosts if they lost this war - eternally doomed to pay for his failures, assuming there was anyone left to summon him.

"So, uh, Nico…" Frank began. He gestured to the scepter. "Have you learned to use that thing?"

"We'll find out," Nico said simply. He stared at the tendrils of darkness undulating from the ruins. "I don't intend to try until I have to. The Doors of Death are already working overtime bringing in Gaea's monsters. Any more activity raising the dead, and the Doors might shatter permanently, leaving a rip in the mortal world that can't be closed."

Coach Hedge grunted. "I hate rips in the world. Let's go bust some monster heads."

Frank looked at the satyr's grim expression. Suddenly he had an idea. "Coach, you should stay on board, cover us with the ballistae."

Hedge frowned. "Stay behind?  _Me?_  I'm your best soldier!"

"Of  _course_  you are, dear," Lu sighed flatly.

"We rely on your contribution," I agreed.

"We might need air support," Frank said. "Like we did in Rome. You saved our braccae."

"It  _would_  be ideal to have firepower from the air should we face great numbers," Lu said, resting her elbow on her arm across her waist and her other hand at her chin in a thinking position. "It would be greatly appreciated if we have someone here to man the ballistae. It's a smart plan."

Frank didn't add: ' _Plus, I'd like you to get back to your wife and baby alive_.'

Hedge apparently got the message. His scowl relaxed and relief showed in his eyes.

"Well…" He grumbled. "I suppose  _somebody's_  gotta save your braccae."

Jason clapped the coach on the shoulder then gave Frank an appreciative nod. "So that's settled. Everybody else - let's get to the ruins. Time to crash Gaea's party."


	36. The Descent Into Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter has lotsa crazy stuff that I have to work out, so just a fair warning that it might be a while before I post the next chapter. Plus I'm trying to finish out my Hidden Origins story as well (didn't mean for its ending to coincide with this story's ending, totally accidental) and since I haven't posted for that story in a longer period of time - aka I want to post more often than once every month - it'll be sucking up most of my attention. There are only like two or three more chapters to go, but they're gonna be packed with tons of stuff. I'm in the "It's the end, all bets are off, big battles to the end!" sections of both stories. Gotta kick my muse into action (and stop getting distracted by other side ideas…)
> 
> :)

First Person: Rei

Despite the midday heat and the raging storm of death energy, a group of tourists was climbing over the ruins. Fortunately there weren't many, and they didn't give the demigods a second look. After the crowds in Rome, we'd stopped worrying too much about getting noticed. If we could fly our warship into the Roman Colosseum with ballistae blazing and not even cause a traffic slowdown, we could pretty much get away with anything.

Nico led the way. At the top of the hill, we climbed over an old retaining wall and down into an excavated trench. Finally we arrived at a stone doorway leading straight into the side of the hill. The death storm seemed to originate right above our heads. Looking up at the swirling tentacles of darkness, I felt like I was trapped at the bottom of a flushing toilet bowl. An overwhelming sense of fear surged through me, and I took deep breaths to try and calm the pain building in my chest. The memories were still trying to fully break through, and it was taking all I had to stay on the surface of my thoughts and not delve too deeply into my ocean of destructive thoughts. I hadn't felt this disquieted for a long time; there wasn't a moment of rest from your own mind, after all.

Nico faced our group. "From here, it gets tough."

"Sweet," Leo said. "Cause so far I've totally been pulling my punches."

Nico glared at him. "We'll see how long you keep your sense of humor. Remember, this is where pilgrims came to commune with dead ancestors. Underground, you may se things that are hard to look at, or hear voices trying to lead you astray in the tunnels. The barley cakes?"

"What?" Frank suddenly asked.

He had been thinking about his grandmother and his mom, wondering if they might appear to him. For the first time in days, the voices of Ares and Mars had started to argue again in the back of Frank's mind, debating their favorite forms of violent death.

"I've got the cakes," Emily announced. She pulled out the magical barley cakes they'd made from the grain Triptolemus had given us in Venice. "We tried to make them taste better, but…well, best to just dive right in and get it over with."

"Eat up," Nico advised.

I did as Emily said and ate the cracker of death as quickly as possible. It tasted like a cookie made with sawdust instead of sugar.

"Yum," Piper said.

Even the daughter of Aphrodite couldn't avoid making a face.

"Okay." Nico choked down the last of his barley. "That should protect us from the poison."

"Poison?" Leo asked. "Did I miss the poison? Cause I love poison."

"Soon enough," Nico promised. "Just stick close together, and maybe we can avoid getting lost or going insane."

On that happy note, Nico led us underground. The tunnel spiraled gently downward, the ceiling supported by white stone arches that reminded me of a whale's rib cage. I didn't know that I had a mild case of claustrophobia until now. It was another moment that I tried to separate myself from my mind and just focus on the task at hand. I twisted Veon's sheathed lance between my fingers with my bow gripped tightly in my other hand.

As we walked, Hazel ran her hands along the masonry. "This wasn't part of a temple," she whispered. "This was…the basement for a manor house, built in later Greek times."

An odd power of the children of Hades, being able to tell so much about an underground place just by being there.

"A manor house?" Frank asked. "Please don't tell me we're in the wrong place."

"We are in the right place," Azrael announced. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, and holding his hands slightly out as though using his palms to see. "The Veil is strong. The Veil is here."

"The House of Hades is below us," Nico assured him. "But Hazel's right, these upper levels are much newer. When the archaeologists first excavated this site, they thought they'd found the Necromanteion. Then they realized the ruins were too recent, so they decided it was the wrong spot."

"They were right the first time," I continued. "They just didn't dig deep enough."

We turned a corner and stopped. In front of us, the tunnel ended in a huge block of stone.

"A cave-in?" Jason asked.

"A test," I corrected. "A child of the Underworld can get through with ease. Anyone else would have a trial before them right here if they wished to speak to the dead on their own."

"Hazel, would you do the honors?" Nico offered.

Hazel stepped forward. She placed her hand on the rock, and the entire boulder crumbled to dust. The tunnel shuddered - cracks spread across the ceiling. For a terrifying moment, I imagined being crushed under tons of earth (a disappointing way to die, after all we'd been through), unable to move or breath, pressure on all of your limbs as you slowly suffocate in pain the entire time, wanting to die but being unable to.

I sucked in a deep breath. No, stop those thoughts. That must've happened to me before to some extent. We'd barely even started the House of Hades and I was  _already_  struggling to keep sane.

The rumbling stopped and the dust settled. A set of stairs curved deeper into the earth, the barreled ceiling held up by more repeating arches, closer together and carved from polished black stone. The descending arches made me feel dizzy, as if we were looking into an endlessly reflecting mirror. Painted on the walls were crude pictures of black cattle marching downward.

"I really don't like cows," Piper muttered.

"Agreed," Frank said.

"Those are the cattle of Hades," Nico said. "It's just a symbol of-"

"Look."

Frank pointed. On the first step of the stairwell, a golden chalice gleamed. I was pretty sure it hadn't been there a moment before. The cup was full of dark-green liquid.

"Hooray," Leo said halfheartedly. "I suppose that's our poison."

Nico picked up the chalice. "We're standing at the ancient entrance of the Necromanteion. Odysseus came here, and dozens of other heroes, seeking advice from the dead."

"Did the dead advise them to leave immediately?" Leo asked.

"I would be fine with that," Piper admitted.

Nico drank from the chalice, then offered it to Jason. "You asked me about trust, and taking a risk? Well, here you go, son of Jupiter. How much do you trust me?"

The others look confused, unsure of what Nico was talking about, but Jason didn't hesitate. He took the cup and drank. I was next, quickly downing a gulp of the stuff. It tasted like spoiled apple juice. Great. At least it didn't taste  _as_  bad as the barley cakes. But it was still pretty darn bad. The others passed it around, each taking a sip of poison. Frank watched the chalice going around nervously, being the past one in the line to drink. I thought about what grown-ups always asked when you mimicked another's bad actions - ' _If all your friends were drinking poison, would you do it too?_ '

Kaze didn't drink from the chalice, probably because he was already dead and didn't need it. Azrael was the only one who didn't cringe when he drank the poison. Whatever that kid's connection to the Underworld was, I wouldn't claim that my random infinite knowledge of stuff told me what it was. Sometimes I knew things, sometimes I didn't. All I knew about Azrael was that he was powerful. I kept imagining him facing an army, holding his hand up as a shower of arrows rained down upon him. My prophetic powers had rarely been easy to interpret before I'd gotten a Primordial with the wisdom of everything shoved into my brain all at once.  _That_ …didn't help. My thoughts were sometimes my own, sometimes they were from the past, sometimes they were from a near or distant future. I got a feeling of unfamiliarity when I was having a prophetic sense, but with my already messed up mind, I just couldn't make sense of  _any_  of my thoughts vs visions.

Frank drained the chalice before it turned to smoke in his hands.

Nico nodded, apparently satisfied. "Congratulations. Assuming the poison doesn't kill us, we should be able to find our way through the Necromanteion's first level."

"Just the  _first_  level?" Piper asked.

Nico turned to Hazel and gestured at the stairs. "After you, sister."

I had never been consumed by the dark before. My skin apparently acted like a solar panel and absorbed sunlight so that when I went into the darkness I would glow. When we were younger, Kaze always used me as a nightlight. When I was unconscious, my glow apparently dimmed, but it never went away. I absorbed moonlight the same way, since the moonlight was technically just reflected sunlight, but don't ask me  _how_ that worked when Artemis and Apollo were two different beings. I guess all of my deaths didn't just activate my direct bloodlines, but I guess Auntie Artemis gave me a smidgen of power too. With over a thousand painful deaths and power boosts, who knew? Maybe I had the power of the entire Greek pantheon? Hell, let's add in every pagan deity in existence! Cause why the flip  _not?!_  Now I suppose I knew why my mother was so feared among the gods and forbidden from having a physical form. Making a  _demigod_  from her power and the power of humanity was a dangerous thing.

You know, now that I think about it, that means I'm related to Bob. My father was a son of Apollo, Apollo was the son of Leto, Leto was the daughter of Koios, and Koios was Bob's brother. This really shouldn't be a surprise to me, honestly. The gods were the children of the Titans. We probably shouldn't get into the fact that a lot of relationships in Greek mythology - particularly ones involving Zeus or Poseidon - are often some form of incest. There are times when gods hook up with their own grandchildren which is somehow okay because the blood has been diluted enough, times when they hook up with children of other Titans who should technically all be related but meh, the fact that Hera and Zeus are kinda brother and sister but they're also husband and wife yet Zeus continuously cheats…etc.

In no time, I felt completely lost. The stairs split in three different directions. As soon as Hazel chose a path, the stairs split again. We wound our way through interconnecting tunnels and rough-hewn burial chambers that all looked the same - the walls carved with dusty niches that might once have held bodies. The arches over the doors were painted with black cows, white poplar trees, and owls.

"I thought the owl was Minerva's symbol," Jason murmured.

"The screech owl is one of Hades's sacred animals," Nico explained. "Its cry is a bad omen."

"This way," Hazel announced. She pointed to a doorway that looked the same as all the others. "It's the only one that won't collapse on us."

"Good choice, then," Leo said.

"Yes sir," Azrael said, though he wasn't looking at Leo. He was looking to his left at the wall. "Thank you." He turned his head so that his ear was facing at a slightly steeper angle upwards. "No. You be quiet."

My skin tingled, probably a side effect of the poison. I was also beginning to feel colder - well, colder than I usually was. Cool air brushed against my face as I heard other voices whispering in the side corridors, beckoning us to veer off course, to come closer and listen to them speak. I assumed that was who Azrael was talking to. Some ghosts appeared to be friendly to him, others he was shushing with the authority he had as a boy with the power of the Reapers.

"At least Mars and Ares are settled down," Emily whispered to a nervous Frank.

The guy wore his emotions on his sleeve without even realizing it, and even without her powers Emily worked to try and keep his spirits high.

"Not sure if I'd prefer them or the ghosts," Frank admitted.

Finally we reached an archway carved in the shape of human skulls - or maybe they  _were_  human skulls embedded in the rock. In the purple light of Diocletian's scepter, the hollow eye sockets seemed to blink. Frank almost hit the ceiling when Hazel put a hand on his arm.

"This is the entrance to the second level," She said. "I'd better take a look."

Frank hadn't even realized that he'd moved in front of the doorway. "Uh, yeah…" He muttered before making way for her.

Hazel traced her fingers across the carved skulls. "No traps on the doorway, but…something is strange here. My underground sense is…is fuzzy, like someone is working against me, hiding what's ahead of us."

"The sorceress that Hecate warned you about?" Jason guessed. "The one Leo and Emily saw in their dream? What was her name?"

"Pa-" I began before cutting myself off. "Actually, it would be safer not to say her name."

"But stay alert," Hazel agreed. "One thing I'm sure of: From this point on, the dead are stronger than the living."

"I suppose that means I should lead the way," Kaze said humorlessly.

"I shall assist in navigation with the power over the dead," Azrael volunteered.

The voices in the darkness seemed to whisper louder, and now I could catch glimpses of movement in the shadows. From the way our friends' eyes darted around, I guessed they were seeing things too. Azrael advised them to not disturb the ghosts and the ghosts would not disturb them.

"Where are the monsters?" Frank wondered aloud. "I thought Gaea had an army guarding the Doors."

"Don't know," Jason said. His pale skin looked as green as the poison from the chalice. "At this point I'd almost prefer a straight-up fight."

"Careful what you wish for, man," Leo warned. He summoned a ball of fire to his hand, and for once Frank was glad to see the flames. "Personally, I'm hoping nobody's home. We walk in, find Percy and Annabeth, destroy the Doors of Death, and walk out. Maybe stop at the gift shop."

"Yeah," Frank said. "That'll happen."

"Hey, I wouldn't protest to a gift shop," Audrey volunteered.

The tunnel shook and rubble rained down from the ceiling.

Hazel grabbed Frank's hand. "That was close," She muttered. "These passageways won't take much more."

"The Doors of Death just opened again," Nico said.

"It's happening like every fifteen minutes," Piper noted.

"Every  _twelve_ ," I corrected.

" ** _Someone must keep pressing the_** ** _UP_** ** _button for twelve minutes, or the journey will not finish._** "

The memory flowed through me as most of them did - recalling themselves on their own yet being natural as any other memory and giving me a familiar feeling. The voice sounded like Bob's, but I didn't understand how I heard that from him unless I managed to find him in the future and he explained the Doors of Death to me. I was  _sure_  he hadn't told me that in the past. I sighed and shook off the confusion, accepting the knowledge as I always did and just ignoring all my theories and trusting my gut. My instincts always knew better than me, after all.

"Percy and Annabeth are close. They're in danger. I just know it."

As we traveled deeper, the corridors widened. The ceilings rose to six meters high, decorated with elaborate paintings of owls in the branches of white poplars. The extra space should have made us feel better, but all I could think about was the tactical situation. The tunnels were big enough to accommodate large monsters, even giants. There were blind corners everywhere, perfect for ambushes. Our group could be flanked or surrounded easily. We would have no good options for retreat. If no monsters were visible, that just meant they were hiding, waiting to spring a trap. Even though we knew that, there was nothing much any of us could do about it. All we could do was continue forward and make sure that we made it to the Doors of Death under any circumstances.

Leo held his fire close to the walls. I walked close to the other side and saw Ancient Greek graffiti scratched into the stone. There were prayers and supplications to the dead, probably written by pilgrims thousands of years ago. The tunnel floor was littered with ceramic shards and silver coins. This place was right out of an indie horror game.

"Offerings?" Piper guessed, looking at the coins.

"Yes," Nico said. "If you wanted your ancestors to appear, you had to make an offering."

"Let's not make an offering," Jason suggested.

Nobody argued.

"The tunnel from here is unstable," Hazel warned. "The floor might…well, just follow me. Step  _exactly_  where I step."

She made her way forward. Frank walked right behind her - not because he felt particularly brave, but because he wanted to be close if Hazel needed his help. The voices of the war gods were arguing again in his ears. Danger felt very close now.

" _Fai Zhang_ ," Azrael whispered in a voice that wasn't his.

He had insisted on going after Frank. He would have been leading the charge if Hazel hadn't been superior with her underground navigation skills. The ghosts appeared to be telling him what he needed to know, but it seems they were also using him to speak as well. Kaze was right behind Azrael and I was right behind Kaze, which made it so that I was probably the last person in the line able to hear Azrael talking. Hazel continued forward while Frank stopped for a moment in fear.

" _Pylos. I await you in Pylos_."

Frank felt like the poison was bubbling back up in his throat. He'd been scared plenty of times before - held even faced the god of Death. But this voice terrified him in a different way. It resonated right down to his bones, as if it knew everything about him - his curse, his history, his future. His grandmother had always been big on honoring the ancestors. It was a Chinese thing - you had to appease ghosts; you had to take them seriously. Frank always thought his grandmother's superstitions were silly. Now he changed his mind. He had no doubt…the voice that spoke to him was one of his ancestors. He didn't turn around to look at Azrael, perhaps because he was frozen in fear, perhaps because he wanted to know more information about what the voice was trying to tell him.

" _To survive, you must lead. At the break, you must take charge._ "

"Lead what?" Frank asked aloud.

"Hm?" Azrael asked, his voice back to normal.

The voice was gone, its absence clear, as if the humidity had suddenly dropped. Azrael probably had experienced no time at all while the rest of the world had continued on with the ghost speaking through him. The entire interacting had taken only a few seconds, enough to get the others behind me to pause in confusion, but only Frank's speaking had truly alerted them to something being wrong. Such a short interaction in the real world must have been microseconds to Azrael, so it was no wonder he looked around, confused.

"Uh, big guy?" Leo asked from behind me. "Could you not freak out on us? Please and thank you."

Everyone beyond me, Kaze, and Azrael were looking at him with concern - even Hazel had stopped from her trek forward. The three of us that  _weren't_  concerned were more interested in moving forward rather than dwelling on it while in unstable territory.

"I'm okay," Frank managed. "Just…a voice."

Nico nodded. "I  _did_  warn you. It'll only get worse. We should-"

Hazel held up her hand for silence. "Wait here, everybody."

"There is something up ahead," Azrael announced.

He jumped past Frank, slowing down his internal clock so that the hasty jump for him actually turn into a slow motion move to the rest of us - therefore making it so that his momentum didn't add pressure to the floor as he moved. It was a smart application of his powers. He really had advanced with those powers of his, considering I was told when they'd found him he'd never even heard of the Veil and was just learning to utilize its powers as a Reaper. By the time he returned to normal speed, he was hurrying after Hazel and disappearing down the tunnel.

I counted to twenty three before they returned, Hazel's face drawn and pensive while Azrael looked more amused than anything else.

"Scary room ahead," Hazel warned. "Don't panic."

"Those two things don't go together," Leo murmured.

"Let us proceed," Azrael announced, waving everyone to follow.

The place was like a circular cathedral, with a ceiling so high it was lost in the gloom. I snapped to try and determine the height through echo location, but by the time the sound returned, it was so little that even my sensitive powers could hardly detect it. I wouldn't be surprised if flying up there meant that we could break the surface with a single punch. Dozens of other tunnels led off in different directions, each echoing with ghostly voices. The thing that made me nervous was the floor. It was a gruesome mosaic of bones and gems - human femurs, hip bones, and ribs twisted and fused together into a smooth surface, dotted with diamonds and rubies. The bones formed patterns, like skeletal contortionists tumbling together, curling to protect the precious stones - a dance of death and riches. It gave me bad memories of my limbs being forced in the wrong directions that were inhuman, some tasks normally impossible for any human, no matter how flexible. Granted it became easy once your bones had been broken the right way-

I sucked in a deep breath, pressing my hand against my stomach to attempt to shove the anxiety down. It was not a quick process. It took more time than I probably realized, but I managed to at least break the surface of my emotions and prevented myself from drowning. I had to stay above it, I had to push it down even if I couldn't get rid of it. Just a little longer.

"Touch nothing," Hazel warned.

"Wasn't planning on it," Emily muttered.

Jason scanned the exits. "Which way now?"

For once, Nico looked uncertain. "This should be the room where the priests invoked the most powerful spirits. One of these passages leads deeper into the temple, to the third level and the alter of Hades himself. But which-?"

"That one."

To all of our surprise, both Audrey  _and_  Frank spoke at the same time. What was worse, the two of them were pointing determinedly at two different tunnels. In the doorway Frank was pointing to at the opposite end of the room, a ghostly Roman legionnaire beckoned. His face was misty and indistinct, but he was looking right at our group - more specifically, Frank. Meanwhile, in the doorway Audrey was aimed at, a little girl was urging them to follow her, motioning deeper into the tunnel with an urgent face. I realized that the girl looked a lot like me, a younger version of me, and I figured it was a Remnant. Audrey could see it too because she had the Remnants within her. Why would a Remnant be showing us a different path than for the others?

Hazel frowned. "Why that one, Frank?"

"You don't see the ghost?" Frank asked.

"Ghost?" Nico repeated.

Frank frowned, realizing that if he could see a ghost that the Underworld kids couldn't see, something was definitely wrong.

"We split up," Audrey announced. "Our team has to go down that one, the rest of you follow Frank's tunnel."

"There can't possibly be  _two_  different correct tunnels," Piper muttered. "Can there? The whole trip here has been a single path forward."

"There  _can_  be two different paths if one of the paths can't be survived by just anyone," I pointed out. "Audrey's right, we have to split off. I'm unkillable, Emily's invincible, Audrey can turn to water to avoid being crushed by rocks, Kaze's pretty much impervious to harm thanks to his new state-"

"Do you all feel that shaking?" Emily interrupted.

I realized that there was a light vibration in the floor beneath us, which was steadily growing stronger.

"We need to get to the exits!" Frank announced. "Now!"

Hazel almost had to tackle him to restrain him. "Wait Frank! This floor is  _not_  stable, and underneath…well, I'm not sure  _what's_  underneath. I need to scout a safe path."

"Hurry then," He urged.

He drew his bow and herded Hazel along as fast as he dared with Leo scrambling behind to provide light as I split off and allowed the others to pass, guarding the rear. Frank could tell he was scaring his friends, but he couldn't help it. He knew in his gut there were only a few seconds.

"Audrey, can you hydrokinesis your way over there?" I asked.

She nodded, "Right," and jumped as her body transformed into water and flew across the cavern.

"Kaze, help me fly Emily over there," I ordered.

He grabbed one of Emily's arms and put it over his shoulders while wrapping an arm around her waist. I was planning on helping him, but he took off before I could even think about it and sailed over to the intended tunnel where Audrey had landed and reformed. Kaze dropped Emily and Audrey helped steady her as I caught up and slowly hovered myself down.

At the other tunnel, the legionnaire ghost vaporized. The cavern reverberated with monstrous roars - dozens, maybe  _hundreds_ , of enemies coming from every direction. I recognized the throaty bellow of the Earthborn, the screech of gryphons, the guttural war cries of Cyclopes - all sounds that had been encountered as recently as the Battle of New Rome, amplified underground.

"Hazel, don't stop!" Nico ordered.

He pulled the scepter of Diocletian from his belt. Piper and Jason drew their swords as the monsters spilled into the cavern.

I grabbed my bow, prepared to fight, but Audrey snatched my arm with an iron grip. " _There is no time, big sister. Please, you must come with me._ "

"But-"

" _We don't have long! No. 1 shall be destroyed without your help!_ "

The tunnel we were in began to collapse from above us, raining down tons of earth. I had no time to ponder being crushed under the rocks because the floor dropped out from under us at the same time. I saw Kaze jumping out of the tunnel and into the battlefield just before everything went black and I was tumbling down a steep slope of rocks. I didn't know if the others were still nearby, I didn't know if I was going to die again from some large fall or if I'd be crushed under the rubble. All I knew was that I was tumbling into the darkness, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do now.

* * *

First Person: Kaze

A vanguard of six-armed Earthborn threw a volley of stones that shattered the bone-and-jewel floor like ice. I didn't hesitate to run for Azrael as he held up his hand and caused the stones flying towards him to slow to a halt, meaning he'd taken them into a layer of the Veil. To him, they were still flying at normal speed right towards him.

I tackled him at speed, realizing that from his perspective I was probably hitting him with the force of a meteor, but I didn't care so long as I got him out of the way of the attack. It seemed that the moment I touched him, he was pulled into the perspective of my speed-mode, which made sure that I wasn't going at light speed when I tackled him, and I twisted my body so I took the hit of falling on the ground out of the way of the rain of stones. The delicate flooring began to crack beneath us, but I pulled us both into speed-mode and helped Azrael stand as we scrambled out of the way to safer ground.

But the time we returned to real time Azrael was looking around in shock. "That was…cool," He said.

I considered that he'd only ever seen the world from a slow-mode perspective where he was slowed down and the rest of the world was fast. He'd never seen the rest of the world slow down before. There was no time to stand in awe as fissures began to spread across the center of the room, some going straight for Leo and Hazel. No time for caution, Frank tackled his friends and the three of them skidded across the cavern, landing at the edge of the ghost's tunnel that Frank had pointed out as rocks and spears flew overhead.

"Go!" Frank yelled. "Go, go!"

Hazel and Leo scrambled into the tunnel, which seemed to be the only one free of monsters. I wasn't sure if that was a good sign. I decided it was the safest place at the moment and grabbed Azrael, tossing him in the direction of the tunnel before drawing my shuriken.

The entire cavern shuddered. Dividing the cavern was a new fifteen-meter-wide chasm, spanned only by two rickety stretches of bone flooring. The bulk of the monster army was on the opposite side, howling in frustration and throwing whatever they could find, including each other. Some attempted to cross the bridges, which creaked and crackled under their weight. Jason, Piper, and Nico stood on the near side of the chasm, which was good, but they were surrounded by a ring of Cyclopes and Hellhounds. More monsters kept pouring in from the side corridors (except for the one that Onesan and her friends disappeared into, which had completely collapsed), while gryphons wheeled overhead, undeterred by the crumbling floor. The three demigods would never make it to the tunnel. Even if Jason tried to fly them, they'd be shot out of the air.

Frank remembered the voice of his ancestor: ' _At the break, you must take charge._ '

"We have to help them," Hazel said.

"The scepter!" Azrael shouted. "Nico di Angelo, the scepter!"

Nico raised Diocletian's scepter, and the cavern air shimmered purple. Ghosts climbed from the fissure and seeped from the walls - an entire Roman legion in full battle gear. They began taking on physical form, like walking corpses, but they seemed confused. Jason yelled in Latin, ordering them to form ranks and attack. The undead just shuffled among the monsters, causing momentary confusion, but that wouldn't last.

Azrael raised his hands and closed his eyes, holding his hands out, fingers spread, palms facing the ground. He took in a deep breath before throwing his hands downwards and stopping them at about hip-level, like he'd hit some kind of invisible table in front of him. The new dead army all turned and looked in his direction from wherever they were standing. Azrael, still with his eyes closed, clenched one hand into a fist while circling his other above it as if to mimic an eagle flying overhead of its pray. The dead army began to turn clockwise, the same direction that he was moving his hand. All at once, they turned a ninety-degree angle and stopped as Azrael paused his hand. He unclenched his fist and faced his hand palm up. He then took his higher hand and raised it up, all of the Roman legion doing the same with whatever weapons they had at their disposal. When he brought his hand down and sliced at his palm, all of the undead warriors attacked as one.

"I don't know any formal battle techniques," Azrael said, his voice strained. He opened his eyes and looked to Frank. "What commands do your people use to organize an army?"

"Why aren't Jason's commands working?" Hazel wondered.

"Even should Azrael learn to use the Roman army, we cannot waste time here if we desire the safety of our comrades," I announced.

"He's right," Frank said. He turned to Hazel and Leo. "You two have to keep going."

Hazel's eyes widened. "What? No!"

"You have to." It was the hardest thing Frank had ever done, but he knew it was the only choice. "Find the Doors. Save Annabeth and Percy and everyone else."

"But-" Leo glanced over Frank's shoulder. "Hit the deck!"

This time it was Azrael who grabbed me and tossed me away before I could even realize what was happening. A volley of rocks slammed overhead. Everything happened too fast for me to comprehend - which hadn't happened since before Gaea had revived me with my new speed. By the time I'd sat up, Hazel was weeping and screaming like a two-year-old throwing a tantrum, attempting to get through the debris that separated us from the others. If the earth shifted any more, the entire complex might collapse on our heads. Still, she pounded her fists against the stones and yelled curses that would've earned her a mouth-washing with lye soap back at St. Agnes Academy.

"Azrael…" I realized. "Azrael!"

I stood and went to helping move the rubble with my strength being greater than Hazel's and my speed being more helpful in clearing the way faster, but the moment I moved one of the larger rocks, the ceiling began to tremble and even  _more_  rubble came tumbling down upon us, forcing the three of us back further into the tunnel. This much debris couldn't have all built up in the split second that Azrael had shoved me away, it wasn't possible! The rocks had barely been falling when he'd pushed me. Now they were piled up, an entire section of the wall had collapsed, leaving a slope of smoking rubble completely blocking the exit, and Hazel appeared to have been weeping over it for some time now.

"No…"

This is what it felt like to be Azrael, I realized. This is what it felt like to have the world pass by around you so quickly that you couldn't keep up. He had to rely on others to come to his rescue when he slowed down the world, he had to face threats head on and just hope that once everything sped up someone or something would save him. It had to be scary, it had to be lonely. I could speed around as fast as I wanted, take in every detail imaginable, but Azrael…he had to accept the fact that he'd miss things, that the world would spin around without his input. It must've disconnected him from reality to have that kind of power. Then again, when living in a Ward where all you wanted was for everything to be over with, perhaps that skill had proven useful.

He had done something to pull me into his time perspective so that I couldn't protest to being stuck with Hazel and Leo, that by the time I realized what was happening, it would be too late. He was facing an army of monsters with the straining power to control a dead army and the power to slow down his targets and just hope that someone would help him when he needed it. With my speed, I could always make sure I was there for him. Now, he was doing it all alone.

And that made me angry.

I  _felt_  like I hadn't in  _ages_. I felt rage, I felt helplessness, I felt fear. I'd had my soul stripped away to become a heartless monster, but it wasn't like with Tsuchi or Kandai who had been dead when the operation took place. My soul was still there, and whatever Azrael had done had unlocked it.

* * *

First Person: Azrael

These dead legionnaires must have all been demigods, because they were totally ADHD. They clawed their way out of the pit, then milled about aimlessly, chest-bumping each other for no apparent reason, pushing one another back into the chasm, shooting arrows into the air as if trying to kill flies, and occasionally, out of sheer luck, throwing a javelin, a sword, or an ally in the direction of the enemy.

It was all I could do to keep their attention aligned with my thoughts to control them, let alone get them to work in sync with an actual goal. Being able to control them and being able to command them were two very different things.

Meanwhile, the army of monsters got thicker and angrier. Earthborn threw volleys of stones that plowed into the zombie legionnaires, crushing them like paper. Female demons with mismatched legs and fiery hair - empousai, I assumed - gnashed their fangs and shouted orders at the other monsters. A dozen Cyclopes advanced on the crumbling bridges, while seal-shaped humanoids - telkhines - lobbed vials of Greek fire across the chasm. There were even some wild centaurs in the mix, shooting flaming arrows and trampling their smaller allies under hoof. In fact, most of the enemy seemed to be armed with some kind of fiery weapon.

Despite his new fireproof pouch, Frank found that extremely uncool. He was pushing through the crowd of dead Romans, shooting down monsters until his arrows were spent, slowly making his way towards the others. A little late, he realized -  _duh_  - he should turn into something big and powerful, like a bear or a dragon. As soon as the thought occurred, pain flared in his arm. He stumbled, looked down, and was astonished to find an arrow shaft protruding from his left biceps. His sleeve was soaked with blood. The sight made him dizzy; mostly it made him angry. He tried to turn into a dragon, with no luck. The pain made it too hard to focus. Maybe he couldn't change shape while wounded. Great time to find  _that_  out.

He dropped his bow and picked up a sword from a fallen…well, he actually wasn't sure  _what_  it was - some sort of reptilian lady warrior with snake trunks instead of legs. He slashed his way forward, trying to ignore the pain and the blood dripping down his arm. About five meters ahead of him, Nico was swinging his black sword with one hand, holding the scepter of Diocletian aloft with the other. He kept shouting orders at the legionnaires, but they paid him no attention - probably because he was Greek. Having control over the legionnaires didn't come simply from being a child of death, it came from power over the dead souls themselves. These legionnaires were Roman at heart, therefore they only responded to Roman command. The only reason I could probably control them was because I was not only a Reaper, but I was also a  _live_ Reaper, making me an oddball of oddballs. If my parents' theories were correct, being Reapers  _already_ meant that Death didn't know what to do with any of us, but as for me, there was no telling what I'd be able to do so long as I was alive. Controlling this entire army all at once was not one of them.

Jason and Piper stood at Nico's back. Jason summoned gusts of wind to blast aside javelins and arrows and even deflected a vial of Greek fire right up the throat of a gryphon, which burst into flames and spiraled into the pit. Piper put her new sword to good use, while spraying food from the cornucopia in her other hand - using hams, chickens, apples, and oranges as interceptor missiles. The air above the chasm turned into a fireworks show of flaming projectiles, exploding rocks, and fresh produce.

I took control of only a few legionnaires at a time, ones that were in positions to be of use in protecting the others and intercepting monsters that began to become a problem. I had to drop certain ones in order to take full control of others, able to maneuver their actions accurately rather than an uncoordinated attack of all of the army at once. That left the rest of the dead legionnaires to just stand there or do stupid counterproductive moves. Some of them I moved to just stand in the way, blocking monsters and taking fire, but if they kept getting moved down, there wouldn't be enough of them left to organize if we eventually did learn how to command them.

Jason kept on shouting orders in Latin, but even  _he_  as a Roman praetor wasn't getting their attention. Granted, he didn't come off as a very Roman guy. There had been the story of how Jason had spent time at the Greek camp, which had affected him in a big way. The undead legionnaires recognized his Greek-ness, recognized that he didn't give off the right sort of vibe, or the aura of a Roman leader.

That meant that the only official Roman left in our group was Frank.

"Make way!" Frank shouted.

To his surprise (not mine, however), the dead legionnaires parted for him. The closest ones turned and stared at him with blank eyes, as if waiting for further orders.

"Oh, great…" Frank mumbled.

Frank had been warned back on one of his previous excursions to Venice that his true test of leadership was coming. Even just recently, his ghostly ancestor had urged him to take charge. If Frank could command these legionnaires to act of their own accord, that would be  _far_  more effective than my scattered controlling of them.

Frank finally made it to the others as a wave of Cyclopes crashed into them. He lifted his sword to parry a Cyclops's club, then stabbed the monster in the leg, sending him backwards into the pit. Another one charged. Frank managed to impale him, but blood loss was making him weak - his vision was blurring, his ears were ringing. Jason was on his left flank, deflecting the incoming missiles with wind (though his face was beaded with sweat); Piper was on his right, yelling charmspeak commands - encouraging the monsters to attack each other or take a refreshing jump into the chasm.

"It'll be fun!" She promised.

A few listened, but across the pit, the empousai were countering her orders. Apparently, they had charmspeak too. The monsters crowded so thickly around them that Frank could barely use his sword. The stench of their breath and body odor was almost enough to knock him out, even without the arrow throbbing in his arm. I pulled as many legionnaires towards them that I could, as many as I could get and still be able to retain enough control to have them lift their shields and create a defensive wall around the three of them - and that wasn't a lot. The legionnaires lifted their shields, but they didn't take official defensive positions, and so they were falling only slightly slower than before. For every one of them that fell, I had room to take control of another and make it take the previous one's place, but at this rate, they were just being made sacrifices - ones that were growing fewer and farther between.

"Stupid ghosts!" Nico shouted.

"They won't listen!" Jason agreed.

"Frank!" I shouted as loud as I could over the chaos. "If you want to live, command them!  _Now!_ "

Frank didn't look confident, but he summoned all his strength and yelled, "Cohorts - lock shields!"

The zombies around them stirred. More than I had been controlling all lined up in front of Frank, putting their shields together in a ragged defensive position. I was able to let go of my controlled ones as they moved of their own accord, but they were moving too slowly, like sleepwalkers, and only a few more than before had responded to his voice.

"Frank, how did you  _do_  that?!" Jason yelled.

Frank's head was still swimming with pain and he had to force himself not to pass out. "I'm the ranking Roman. They, uh…they don't recognize you. Sorry."

Jason grimaced, but he didn't look particularly surprised. "How can we help?"

Frank wished he had an answer. A gryphon soared overhead, almost decapitating him with its talons. Nico smacked it with the scepter of Diocletian, and the monster veered into a wall.

" _Orbem formate!_ " Frank ordered.

About two dozen zombies obeyed, struggling to form a defensive ring around Frank and his friends. It was enough to give the demigods a little respite, but there were too many enemies pressing forward. Most of the ghostly legionnaires were still wandering around in a daze.

"My rank," Frank realized.

" _All_  these monsters are rank!" Piper yelled, stabbing a wild centaur.

"No. I'm only a centurion."

Jason cursed in Latin. "He means he can't control a whole legion. He's not of high enough rank."

Nico swung his black sword at another gryphon "Well, then, promote him!"

It was a bad time to become self-aware that I was standing all alone, backed into a wall, with the army of monsters in front of me. I liked having an eye on the entire battlefield, which was why I hadn't followed Frank to where Jason and Piper were, but that, in turn, left me vulnerable to attack. Without Kaze, my Veil powers to slow down targets was pretty useless - they required someone else, particularly someone fast, to protect me once I'd slowed down attackers. The monsters had been more focused on the three demigods backed into a corner to notice me, but that was quickly changing as a single monster pointed at me through the chaos and some of its nearby comrades began to respond to the call.

I had to forget about commanding what little I could of the army as I backed away from a small tidal wave of monsters. I had no weapons on me, I doubted that I could fight even if I  _wanted_  to. All my life, it had been powers, powers, powers. That's all they wanted of me from Ward K, that's all I'd been able to learn since I'd escaped. All I could do was extract souls when in the Veil, slowing time to a halt for me. If I did that, I could destroy maybe one or two of the monsters before I'd have passed enough time in the real world that the battle would be decided for the others. I could slow down the monsters in the Veil with me, but the others were so far away that they wouldn't be able to help me once the monsters had been slowed in the real world.

While debating my options - or lack thereof - a gryphon came down from above where I hadn't expected it and tackled me down. I felt claws digging into my shoulder and my stomach and I swatted my hands only to be met with a sharp beak. My legs were useless as I tried to kick the thing off me and its beak nearly hit me in the eye as I flailed. I felt the familiar warmth of blood on my face as I fought harder with everything I had in a last-ditch effort to free myself.

Then I heard a loud snap as the weight of the gryphon disappeared and was replaced with a light shower of monster dust. I thought it was some kind of gunshot, or maybe the monster had accidentally self-destructed somehow. That is, until I heard the voice from above my head.

"You leave  _MY SON **ALONE!**_ "

A whip snapped above me towards the monsters and I heard the distinct screech of death from another gryphon perhaps. Curiosity was enough to help me push through the pain and sit up, holding my side and keeping my shoulder as still as possible. My mother, Hannah, was a daughter of Hephaestus. While they were well-known for their inventing skills, possibly their fire skills, Hannah had grown up in the circus. She had been an orphan when her mother had died, but by luck or by chance, she got raised by an entire family of circus members. That was why she was extremely athletic and flexible, she didn't panic when it came to stressful situations where she had to improvise because she'd been trained to react to a worst-case scenario.

She was not afraid of heights. She could handle a tightrope like it was nothing, acrobatics in the air were child's play. She swept her whip out, the whip longer than probably anything that was feasibly possible in the human world, and took out everything on the ground. She threw her whip up and grabbed onto a gryphon, pulling it down before jumping up and handing on its back. She wrapped her legs around its neck and pulled at its feathers, causing it to screech and dive downwards towards the ranks of monsters. Her whip retracted with a flick and became a six-foot-tall thin sword perfect for being on the back of a creature. She pulled up the gryphon before it dived beak-first into the ground, but as she flew through the monster horde she swung her sword out and dissolved anything that was unfortunate enough to be in her path instantly.

She eventually had to abandon her gryphon as it began to fall victim to attacking monsters trying to stop her. Its wing was clipped by a rock thrown from an Earthborn and they went tumbling at high speeds in the air. She did not panic. She gracefully released her legs and shifted her weight to aim the gryphon's descent before hitting it right in the eye of a Cyclops as she threw her long sword out to expand it back into a whip that grabbed onto another Cyclops by the neck. She used her fall and centripetal force to literally bring the Cyclops crashing down on top of some unfortunate victims nearby, and with a final tug of her whip, she decapitated the Cyclops and turned its remains to dust.

"Urie!"

The Veil shifted and opened up to reveal Ithuriel, dropping from the air. He came down right in the middle of a group of wild centaurs, his lance raised above his head before it shifted and expanded into a larger and more intricate version, slamming into the ground and releasing a visible blast of blue energy that wiped away everything within a five-meter radius. His lance retracted to a simple polearm again as he looked around to the dead legion scattered throughout the monster crowd that weren't reacting to any of Frank's commands.

His face bared a frown that was unnatural on the normally lighthearted man. "Well, what are you  _waiting_ for?!  _Fight_ , you ingrates! Are you warriors or just  _maggots?!_ " He began to glow with an aura of power. " _I said FIGHT!_ "

The nearest dead warrior swung a sword towards an empousai beside it as though it had been possessed into doing so without even thinking about it. The rest of the dead legionnaires began to fight deliberately, but separately, in an unorganized fashion, using whatever weapons that were available to them - swords, polearms, even whacking enemies with bows and stabbing with arrows. Some even picked up weapons from the enemy, anything to get a weapon and wreak havoc with it. Ithuriel  _was_  Greek, after all. He had the power to make anyone he wanted go berserk, but he wasn't one for organized battle - such was Ares in comparison to a war god such as Athena, for instance, who fought more strategically. It was clearly unnatural for the dead legion to be fighting so chaotically, but then again, nothing about a legion risen from the dead was very ' _natural_.'

"You! Frank Zhang!" Ithuriel snapped, slicing through the battlefield as he stalked up to the three demigods.

"Uh…yes?" Frank asked nervously.

"You're Roman. You know Roman stuff. Can you command this army properly?"

"I…I guess, but I'm only a centurion-"

"You, Jason Grace, was it?"

"Yes?" Jason asked, his expression firm.

"You're the current praetor, right?"

"Yes, but the army won't listen to me because I'm not…well, very Roman…anymore."

"Then promote Zhang! I don't care. Just get these idiots fighting like they're  _supposed_  to." He jabbed a thumb towards the army of dead warriors. "It's giving me bad vibes, controlling Romans. You're a son of Mars, right Zhang? So  _prove_  it."

With that, Ithuriel turned and joined Hannah in fighting the crowd of monsters.

I pulled myself with one arm over to the edge of the area, leaning against the stone barrier that had blocked off Kaze, Hazel, and Leo. Kaze would kill me if he realized I had gotten hurt after I'd pushed him to go on without me. Something about that thought made me want to laugh, if it weren't for the burning ache in my body from the act of making any motions at all.

Jason shouted in his best drill-sergeant voice: "Frank Zhang! I, Jason Grace, praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata, give you my final order: I resign my post and give you emergency field promotion to praetor, with the full powers of that rank. Take command of this legion!"

Frank felt as if a door had opened somewhere in the House of Hades, letting in a blast of fresh air that swept through the tunnels. The arrow in his arm suddenly didn't matter. His thoughts cleared, his eyesight sharpened, and the voices of Mars and Ares spoke in his mind, strong and unified: " ** _Break them!_** "

I hardly recognized Frank's voice when he yelled: "Legion,  _agmen formate!_ "

Instantly, every dead legionnaire in the cavern stood at attention, drew their swords, and raised their shields. They scrambled toward Frank's position, pushing and hacking monsters out of their way until they stood shoulder to shoulder with the comrades, arranging themselves in a square formation. Stones, javelins, and fire rained down, but now Frank had a disciplined defensive line sheltering them behind a wall of bronze and leather.

The fact that Ithuriel and Hannah were wreaking Greek havoc across the battlefield also helped. Hannah transformed her whip into a short but thick and heavy broadsword as she sliced right through a particularly large boulder that had come her way, while Ithuriel spun his lance to run straight through a plume of fire and slice the source in half.

"Archers!" Frank yelled. " _Eiaculare flammas!_ "

He didn't hold out much hope the command would work; the zombies' bows couldn't be in good shape. But to his surprise, several dozen ghostly skirmishers nocked arrows in unison and their arrowheads caught fire spontaneously. A flaming wave of death arced over the legion's line, straight into the enemy. Cyclopes fell, centaurs stumbled, a telkhines shrieked and ran in circles with a burning arrow impaled in his forehead. Hannah and Ithuriel took advantage of the confusion and sliced down the panicked and confused monsters, having easily avoided the tidal wave of flaming arrows.

Frank heard a laugh behind him. He glanced back and couldn't believe what he saw. Nico di Angelo was actually smiling.

"That's more  _like_  it! Let's turn this tide!"

" _Cuneum formate!_ " Frank yelled. "Advance with  _pila!_ "

The zombie line thickened in the center, forming a wedge designed to break through the enemy host. They lowered their spears in a bristling row and pushed forward. Earthborn wailed and threw boulders, Cyclopes smashed their fists and clubs against the locked shields, but the zombie legionnaires were no longer paper targets. They had inhuman strength, hardly wavering under the fiercest attacks. Soon the floor was covered with monster dust. The line of javelins chewed through the enemy like a set of giant teeth, felling ogres and snake women and hellhounds. Frank's archers shot gryphons out of the air and caused chaos in the main body of the monster army across the chasm.

Frank's forces began to take control of their side of the cavern. One of the stone bridges collapsed, but more monsters kept pouring over the other one.

"Urie!" Hannah shouted.

He understood instantly and turned towards the chasm, thrusting his lance forward. It extended all the way from his position midst the monster army to the other end of the chasm, imbedding itself in the stone just a foot or so below the edge. Hannah didn't hesitate as she jumped up and landed on the thin lance, holding her arms out just so as she ran across the short path with practiced tight-rope skill. As she jumped to the other side, Ithuriel ran towards the chasm - his red aura making him immune to the attackers around him. His lance retracted as he went, kicking and punching any monster that got in his way with a sort of invincibility from his Ares aura, and then he jumped, his lance completely retracting down to normal size (which was still as tall as he was). Hannah was still falling from her jump from Ithuriel's lance to the other size of the chasm, but she turned in the air, threw out her whip which wrapped around Ithuriel's entire body like a harness, and then twisted her body to throw him over to the other side. Both of them loved this kind of risky combat, not just because they were technically dead and couldn't die anymore, but because it was exhilarating to be in danger. Both of them were crazy in their own way. I wondered if that was a sign for my future.

All of this happened in a split second, and Ithuriel was tossed right over the center of the monster horde, Hannah's whip releasing him as he raised his lance for another attack similar to the one that he'd entered the battlefield with.

"Highwind!"

Ithuriel didn't waste time; even after his earth-shaking blast that dazed the enemy, he charged in and began attacking the nearest target almost madly. Hannah was similar, landing on her feet and throwing her whip out causing it to snap around in a wide arc, taking every monster in its path down. With her long reach and quick reflexes to any incoming projectiles, she was a beast on the battlefield.

"Jason," Frank called. "Can you fly a few legionnaires across the pit? The enemy's left flank is weak - see? Take it!"

Jason smiled. "With pleasure."

Three dead Romans rose into the air and flew across the chasm. Then three more joined them. Finally Jason flew himself across and his squad began cutting through some very surprised-looking telkhines, spreading fear throughout the already confused enemy ranks.

"Nico," Frank said. "Keep trying to raise the dead. We need more numbers."

"On it."

Nico lifted the scepter of Diocletian, which glowed even darker purple. More ghostly Romans seeped from the walls to join the fight. Across the chasm, empousai shouted commands in a language I didn't know but somewhat understood thanks to the Veil's power of universal language. The gist was obvious - they were trying to shore up their allies and keep them charging across the bridge.

"Piper!" Frank yelled. "Counter those empousai! We need some chaos in their most organized force!"

"Thought you'd never ask." She started catcalling at the female demons: "Your makeup is smeared! Your friend called you ugly! That one is making a face behind your back!"

Soon the vampire ladies were too busy fighting one another to shout any commands. The legionnaires moved forward, keeping up the pressure. They had to take the bridge from the front before the forces on the other side - i.e. Jason and my parents - became overwhelmed. Even with that looming threat, I wasn't that concerned.

"Time to lead from the front," Frank decided.

He raised his borrowed sword and called for a charge.

Frank became shrouded in a red light, an aura similar to that of Ithuriel (it was still weird to refer to him as my father). Javelins couldn't touch him, rocks somehow got deflected, and even with an arrow sticking out of his left biceps, Frank had never felt so full of energy. The first Cyclopes he met went down so quickly it was almost a joke. Frank sliced him in half from shoulder to waist. The big guy exploded into dust. The next Cyclops backed up nervously, so Frank cut his legs out from under him and sent him into the pit. The remaining monsters on their side of the chasm tried to retreat, but the legion cut them down.

"Testudo formation!" Frank shouted. "Single file, advance!"

( **AN: The book actually calls that Tetsudo formation, which I think is a typo, but if there is such thing as a Tetsudo formation, do inform me** )

Frank was the first one to cross the bridge. The dead followed, their shields locked on either side and over their heads, deflecting all attacks. As the last of the zombies crossed, the stone bridge crumbled into the darkness, but by then, it didn't matter. Nico kept summoning more legionnaires to join the fight. Over the history of the empire, thousands of Romans had served and died in Greece. Now they were back, answering the call of Diocletian's scepter. Frank waded forward, destroying everything in his path.

"I will burn you!" A telkhines squeaked, desperately waving a vial of Greek fire. "I have fire!"

Frank took him down, and as the vial dropped towards the ground, Frank kicked it over the cliff before it could explode. An empousai raked her claws across Frank's chest, but Frank felt nothing. He sliced the demon into dust and kept moving. Pain was unimportant; failure was unthinkable. He was a leader of the legion now, doing what he was born to do - fighting the enemies of Rome, upholding its legacy, protecting the lives of his friends and comrades. He was Praetor Frank Zhang.

His forces swept the enemy away, breaking their every attempt to regroup. Jason and Piper fought at his side, yelling defiantly. Nico waded through the last group of Earthborn, slashing them into mounds of wet clay with his black Stygian sword. Hannah and Ithuriel worked in perfect coordination to wipe out the large numbers of enemies big and small - they were having fun with some of their enemies, I knew it.

Before we knew it, the battle was over. Piper chopped through the last empousai, who vaporized with an anguished wail. Hannah grabbed a Cyclops with her whip and swung it around with strength that was far from human, throwing it right towards Ithuriel as he launched right through it with his lance. Hannah finished off the last Cyclops by grabbing it with her whip and tugging extremely hard. With a crack of her whip, the Cyclops was squeezed to dust in an instant.

"Frank, you're on fire," Jason said.

Frank looked down. A few drops of oil must have splattered on his pants because they were starting to smolder. Frank batted at them until they stopped smoking, but he wasn't particularly worried. Thanks to Leo, he no longer had to fear fire.

Nico cleared his throat. "Uh…you also have an arrow sticking through your arm."

"I know." Frank snapped off the point of the arrow and pulled out the shaft by the tail. He felt only a warm, tugging sensation. "I'll be fine."

Piper made him eat a piece of ambrosia.

"Can I have one of those?" Hannah asked Piper abruptly.

Piper stared. Hannah was a whole foot taller than her with fierce brown eyes, a tanned complexion, the build of a strong, hard worker and fighter, a deadly whip held tightly in her grip that had just taken out countless monsters, and dark hair pulled into a choppy braid that you couldn't tell whether was dirty blonde or blonde and just dirty.

"Oh, uh…sure."

Hannah snatched up the ambrosia and ran in my direction. Ithuriel was waiting at the edge of the chasm, holding his arm out to grab her the moment she got close. His lance extended, launching them both across the void as they landed on my side of the chasm and sprinted to where I laid.

Hannah dropped her whip beside her as she kneeled in front of me, holding out the ambrosia. "This should heal you. Hopefully. Things of both the living and the dead realms should heal you."

She stuck the square into my mouth and I chewed. It tasted nice, like a food that Kaze had introduced me to on the Argo II…what was it? I think it was chocolate related. The throbbing pain of my injuries began to lessen and Hannah helped me stand. She was tall for a woman, and I was short for a teenage boy. And Ithuriel was even taller than  _she_  was. Seriously, these people were giants! I felt I hadn't inherited that gene.

We headed over to the edge of the chasm and suddenly we were lifted by the winds, flown over thanks to Jason's power. We joined the three of them as Hannah urged me to sit down and rest.

As she bandaged Frank's wound, Piper said, "Frank, you were amazing. Completely terrifying, but amazing."

Frank had trouble processing her words. ' _Terrifying_ ' couldn't apply to him. He was just Frank. His adrenaline drained away. He looked around him, wondering where all the enemies had gone. The only monsters left were his own undead Romans, standing in a stupor with their weapons lowered.

Nico held up his scepter, its orb dark and dormant. "The dead won't stay much longer, now that the battle is over."

Frank faced his troops. "Legion!"

The zombie soldiers snapped to attention.

"You fought well. Now you may rest. Dismissed!"

They crumbled into piles of bones, armor, shields, and weapons. Then, even those disintegrated.

Frank looked like he might just crumble too. Despite the ambrosia, his wounded arm began to throb. His eyes were heavy with exhaustion. The blessing of Mars faded, leaving him depleted.

"The post-battle fatigue gets better with practice, kiddo," Ithuriel promised.

Frank looked up as though just remembering Ithuriel and Hannah were there. "Um…have we been introduced?"

"Ithuriel, son of Ares. Yeah, the name's a Cristian angel. Don't think about it too hard. I'm Azrael's dad. In case the whole angel name thing wasn't a hint."

"I'm Hannah," Hannah said with a warm smile. "Der Meister von Allem. His mother. In case the whole ' _Leave my son alone_ ' thing wasn't a hint. Daughter of Hephaestus."

"What are you both doing here?" I asked. "I thought you couldn't leave the Veil, at least not for long periods of time, and never to show yourselves to mortals unless they were dying."

"This is a land where the dead and living can interact. We're able to be more freely with our actions while we're here. Commune with who we please. Besides, you all drank poison. You're  _already_  in a state of half-deadness. Besides, I'm not letting you die just yet, little one." She ran her hands through my hair and I moved to fix it. "Azrael's life while also being a Reaper is unique. He only gets one life. It was a miracle that we managed to convince Death to give him a life at all with the whole mix up that happened. Long story short, Azrael needs to be kept alive for as long as possible. Not that I don't like spending time with you, sweetie."

"So you came here just to save me?"

Hannah and Ithuriel shared a glance. "Well, no," Ithuriel admitted. "We came here looking for someone."

Hannah's warm gaze hardened to something colder. Maybe it was anger, maybe it was grief. "An old friend of ours."

Frank looked over to the collapsed cave on the other end of the chasm. "Kaze, Hazel, and Leo. We need to find them."

The others peered across the chasm. At the other end of the cavern, the tunnel they'd entered was buried under tons of rubble.

"We can't go that way," Nico announced. "Maybe…"

Suddenly he staggered. He would have fallen if Jason hadn't caught him. I felt a splitting pain through my head, like an instant migraine, and saw too many images to make sense of. Something about an elevator, darkness, a sea of monsters, a fight of both mind a body. My entire body trembled, and I knew that if I'd been standing, I probably would've fallen over just like Nico. Hanna and Ithuriel had both staggered beside me, clutching their heads, but they remained on their feet.

"The Doors," Nico said. "Something's happening. Percy and Annabeth…"

"The others," Ithuriel muttered. "The chosen ones-"

"I know!" Hannah snapped.

"We need to go  _now_ ," Nico announced.

"But how?" Jason asked. "That tunnel is  _gone_."

Frank clenched his jaw. He hadn't come this far to stand around helplessly while his friends were in trouble. "It won't be fun, but there's another way."

There was a light rumble in the ground that began to grow stronger.

"Oh no. Not  _more_ ," Piper muttered.

"It's  _our_  job," Ithuriel said. "You need to go. Whatever you have planned, Frank, go!"

Out of the ground, instead of more monsters, appeared two humans, ones who some of them recognized, some of them didn't.

"Are they…?" Jason muttered.

"Yes, now you have to go," Hannah declared. "Go!"

Hannah grabbed her whip while Ithuriel rested his lance on his shoulder as the two of them headed towards the two undead reanimations. The demigods made their way to one of the walls of the room as Frank did a little concentrating. The spirits of some dead warriors, courtesy of being a child of Mars, agreed to help them get to their destination. A tunnel appeared in the wall, or perhaps it was some kind of portal. Either way, they slipped inside, and it closed behind them, leaving the two reanimations and the two Reapers.


	37. To Arms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guuuuueeeeeeeesssss who keeps delaying the finale and ended up making so much that this has become at least two chapters, looking like three on the horizon and oh my gosh there's still one more plot point to gloss over even when I finish this Tartarus thing! Huh.
> 
> So, uh, yeah. And I haven't even made any progress on my Hidden Origins finale. There's only so interesting you can make a video game battle.
> 
> Enjoy if you're out there.
> 
> :)

Third Person: Der Meister von Allem

"Kandai?" Hannah ventured.

He stared at her blankly. His black sclera were unnerving, his porcelain skin unnatural.

"My apologies," The woman beside him said. "Kandai is still working on taking control of his body. He can hear you, but he responds more to commands and things related to his orders."

"Tsuchi Yamasatchi," Ithuriel recited.

"Glad to be known," She said flatly. "Gaea warned us of you. Reapers who could take away our new life. Of course, that's only if you can manage to pierce our new bodies and kill us."

"We don't want to kill you," Hannah said gently.

She shrugged. "You may not want to kill your former friend Kandai, but  _me?_  I'm a queen of Punishment. Your boss and your boss's boss want me thrown into Tartarus. They're  _afraid_  of me. Because I took my punishment and laughed in its face. I took my punishment and tamed it to do as I wanted. I got my son to become one of us, I fought off those dumb mortals with their Wards with ease and got the demigods that Gaea wanted for her army. Now all that's left is to make sure your brat of a son doesn't keep interfering."

"You will not  _touch_  my son!" Hannah snapped. Ithuriel tightened his grip on his lance in agreement.

"Well that all depends on your choices you make here and now." She reached into the pocket of her trench coat and pulled out a large grenade - larger than a normal grenade, something custom-made. Hannah would recognize a Hephaestus descendant's handiwork anywhere. "Let's see what you've got. Kandai, eliminate."

The two of them shot forward with incredible speed.

Hannah and Ithuriel raised their weapons to intercept, beginning the most dangerous fight of both their lives and their deaths.

* * *

First Person: Audrey

The fall wasn't deadly, but it hurt. We hit some kind of mound of loose earth. It was piled in a steep slope so that the moment we hit it, we were rolling downwards with rocks pelting out bodies and no hope of coming to a stop. By the time I remembered that -  _duh_  - I could transform into water and bring myself to a halt (hopefully rescuing the others too) we were free-falling again for a split second and then hit some kind of flat, marble floor.

"You guys okay?"

Emily was the first one up, probably because of her invincibility.

"I'll live," Lu grumbled.

"Nothing broken," I announced, before the second voice of the Remnants within me took over.

" _We're close. Hurry big sister._ "

She nodded. "Where-?"

She cut herself off, realizing that was a stupid question. We were in a large cavern that reminded me of the Pantheon in Rome, except this place had been decorated in Hades Modern. The obsidian walls were carved with scenes of death; plague victims, corpses on the battlefield, torture chambers with skeletons hanging in iron cages - all of it embellished with precious gems that somehow made the scenes even more ghastly. As in the Pantheon, the domed roof was a waffle pattern of recessed square panels, but here each panel was a stela - a grave marker with Ancient Greek inscriptions. I wondered if actual bodies were buried behind them. There was a single exit, but it appeared that we had tumbled through the roof of the room and our entrance was closing as we spoke. At the apex of the ceiling, where the Pantheon's skylight would've been, a circle of pure black stone gleamed, as if to reinforce the sense that there was no way out of this place - no sky above, only darkness.

Fifty feet away was a set of freestanding elevator doors, their panels etched in silver and iron. Rows of chains ran down either side, bolting the frame to large hooks in the floor. The area around the doors was littered with black rubble. I realized that an ancient altar to Hades had once stood there, but it had been destroyed to make room for the Doors of Death instead.

We hurried over to the doors and Lu put her hand on the front of the Doors. "It wants me down there."

"What does?" Emily asked.

"Everything. Everything that ever is and was and will ever be."

"So all the Primordials," I summarized.

She nodded. "Pretty much."

She jammed her finger on the glass elevator button and the Doors instantly dinged, the panels sliding open. The elevator would've easily been mistaken for an actual elevator with how natural it looked inside. I don't know what I was expecting, but a normal elevator was not one of them.

"Twelve minutes…" She muttered. "We need someone to hold the button for twelve minutes. The only reason the elevator's even here is because those monsters that the others are fighting just came through."

"Twelve whole minutes," Emily repeated. It wasn't phrased as a question, more like a statement, but the query in her tone was clear. "So who…?"

" _Us._ "

The two of them looked over to me.

"The Remnants?" Lu corrected.

" _Yes, us._ "

"But you don't have physical form."

" _We just need Curses. The Curse of the Styx, the power to do what should not be possible, the power to change fate, and the consequences that come of choice._ "

"My Curses…"

" _When Remnant and Curse combine, we shall be whole. We shall have the form needed to live once more. This comes at a cost, however. Should we be allowed to run free, you must understand that we will not be so kind as we have been to your friend._ "

"Audrey?" Emily asked.

" _She has experienced the possession of dozens of ghosts, the Remnants being only a fraction of them. We've managed to keep the rest of them in check, and once we're extracted into Curses, we may be able to extract them along with us and then kick them into the Veil where they can be properly rounded up again._ "

She looked to the side in thought. "I'll try my best. I'm not sure how well the Curses work at the moment. I was able to summon one in Tartarus, but I've never done it without a Primordial in me before."

" _The Curses were bequeathed to you specifically, not the beings which inhabit your body. You should be fully capable of utilizing them at will, else they wouldn't be a proper punishment. They can help you change the course of history, Rei-chan. It is your burden when you choose to use them or choose to not._ "

"Then let's try it now."

She held her hand out and closed her eyes, inhaling a deep breath and then exhaling slowly. The green magical mist of her Curses appeared, seeping out of her hand and skin and making its way over towards me. As soon as the mist touched me, it began to tug at the dead souls inside me. It felt…well, it felt like I was getting a layer of skin torn off me. Imagine when glue has dried on your fingers and you're attempting to pull it free. Now imagine that from the inside of your entire body, every inch of your skin, every bit of your soul. The Curse was separating my soul from the intruders that were clinging to it like a lifeline, because the moment they weren't anchored to me, they would no longer be safe from being dragged back to where they came from. A living soul was what they needed, but this living soul wasn't gonna let them stay.

Slowly, the Curse mist began to thicken and shape into the form of a person, the vague silhouette of a girl. As she sucked away the Remnants and the souls from me, the green mist began to darken and solidify even further. Rather than having a body of mist that didn't have any legs, just a dress of smoke that dissolved and dispersed the lower you looked, she condensed even further and began to take on a proper skin tone and color palate.

In the end she gasped and opened her eyes to reveal she was a younger version of Lu. She was definitely smaller and less matured, but she had the same face. She looked down at her body and admired it, running her hands along her arms and torso, tapping her feet on the floor, running her hands through her shoulder-length hair.

"Amazing! Oh, to be human once more!"

"Yeah, you're welcome for letting you hitch a ride," I sighed.

I was left exhausted, like I'd run a pacer test. My limbs felt like jelly, but I was slowly recovering my strength. It could've been worse, if I was being honest.

"I gave you that body to complete a task," Lu reminded her.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course. I'm No. 357 Nice to meet you all."

"Don't let us down." It was less of a remark as it was a threat. "I gave you your freedom. Remember that."

"Save No. 1 and we'll have a straight deal. Don't worry. Clytius and Pasiphaë won't interfere if they know what's good for them. Like it or not, Tartarus wants you to make it down there as well, and if  _he_  gets pissed off, you  _know_  that Gaea will be informed. The two of them get displeased with you…well, let's just say it doesn't end pretty. No. 1 is in danger. You must hurry. She and the demigods have entered the heart of Tartarus."

"You mean Percy and Annabeth?" I asked.

"Yes. Now get inside."

We moved into the elevator and No. 357 stood by the button. "On your way back up, the Doors will be assaulted by Tartarus's forces. On the way down, they won't bother you, but just be ready. If those doors force their way open on your way back up during the twelve minutes-"

"We'll be trapped within Tartarus's void where all of his condemned victims suffer before they're reborn," Lu finished. "Yeah. I know."

No. 357 gave them a nod. "Good luck."

She hit the button and the doors slid closed.

There was a long moment of silence as we felt the elevator begin to move.

"If this doesn't work out," Lu began, "I'm sorry I dragged you guys into this."

"Hey, it wasn't  _your_  fault," I said. "It was the powers that be. As always. You know, because destiny said so."

"And because Order and Chaos themselves said so," Emily added.

She cracked a small smile. "Thanks." She inhaled through her nose. "I honestly don't know what will happen if we manage to succeed."

"Is it too hopeful to ask the Primordials to help out in ending this whole war thing?" Emily asked.

"Probably," I admitted.

"No reason not to try asking though," Lu shrugged. "They  _do_  kinda owe me one. Well…then again, I  _did_ nearly jeopardize everything because I was selfish."

"If it works out in the end, then the process can be…overlooked," I shrugged. "I mean, it's saving the whole gods-damned universe."

"Well, it's not really  _necessary_. Just…in our best interests. The Primordials made it clear in my head that if we fail, they  _can_  just destroy this entire reality and start afresh. They'll just have to go through that few billion years of creating the world to get where we are today."

"Wait, so would everything be the exact same? What if we've already failed and we're on our millionth try already?!"

"You'd think they'd learn from their mistakes, no?" Emily asked.

"Point."

"Hey, even the Primordials aren't perfect," Lu shrugged. "You never know. Even for them, things have rules and caveats when it comes to interacting with humanity. To think, if they'd just ignored us all, we wouldn't have this problem."

"But humanity's great man! Why  _wouldn't_  even the most ancient primordial deities not wanna party with us?"

"Many reasons, actually," She sighed.

"But they ended up loving us anyway," Emily pointed out. "We're clearly worth it, one way or another. They were kind enough to favor humanity and give us a world to live in. It's the least we can do to repay them."

"Let's hope we're able to. Personally, I'd like at least a year without the fate of the world on the line."

I chuckled. "One can only hope."

"Ten minutes," Lu announced.

"We're going to Hell, girls," I sighed. "Let's enjoy it while it lasts."

"Well, No. 357  _did_  say that the ride down is easier than the ride back up."

"We should've cut those chains on the Doors of Death, right?" I realized. "Wasn't that the whole point of coming here?"

"The chains are keeping the Doors in place for use," Lu said. "If we want to get Percy and Annabeth and Veon and maybe the Primordials back out, we need the Doors in place for a little longer. We cut the chains on the Tartarus side, use the elevator to get back up somehow - maybe with another Remnant-Curse - and then once we make it, we unchain the Doors topside and it should be able to relocate."

"Out of Gaea's reach," Emily concluded.

She nodded. "We'll have to do a lot of hoping, but what else is new? At this point, I'm ready to just dive right in and get it over with. Jumping head-first into danger and inevitable suffering is what we do, after all. It's in the job description for being a demigod, right underneath ' _Make a plan,_ ' ' _Execute the plan,_ ' ' _Have the plan go horribly wrong,_ ' and ' _Wing the hell out of it._ '"

Emily giggled and I laughed. "You know, just in case, it's been great getting the know the real human you for once. Not that it's much different from the you we knew in high school."

"Maybe it's the Primordial in me that makes me like that. I mean, we're getting closer to all of them right now. I worry about Tartarus already having me in his grasp."

"We're here for you the entire way," Emily insisted. "We'll do everything in our power to make sure that they can't take you. Right Audrey?"

"Right," I agreed. "Big destinies and all that. You've got the easy job, being chosen and all that. We're your backup, and that can be difficult, man."

She smiled. "Point taken. I  _am_  dragging you into Hell with me. Doesn't make me a very good friend, does it?"

"Hey, a true friend  _would_  follow you to Hell. Just trying to make the cut."

"Well I'm glad for that anyway." She stared at the closed doors. "No matter what, I'm happy we had our friendship. Even if things started because destiny and the gods said so, our friendship is still ours. Eight minutes."

"What are we looking at once those doors open?" I asked.

"Gaea's army is waiting right there once we step out. There are two Titans that should be guarding the Doors and organizing the monsters to get inside the elevator. Every monster that's ever been killed before is down there - every type of creature, every named one, every obscure lacky. But what we need to worry about is Tartarus and Chaos/Order."

"Percy? Annabeth? Veon?" Emily asked.

She closed her eyes for a contemplative moment. I had a feeling her mystic powers were coming into play again. "Percy and Annabeth are at the Doors, along with a friend of theirs."

"And Veon?" Emily stressed.

Lu put her hand to her chest where her necklace was. That's right. She had some kind of gem that connected her to the Primordials, right? And Veon had one too.

"I'll find him," she insisted. "I just have to follow my heart."

Emily gave me a small smile before looking back to our friend with such a heavy burden on her shoulders. "We know you will. There was never any doubt."

She looked to each of us with a look that was too human to be anyone else but  _her_. Then, she smiled. It was a smile of relief - not forced humor; the anxiety in her eyes that refused to die wasn't plaguing the expression; the weight of the world and our journey and her past and future just…vanished. If only for a brief second, she could breathe like she never had before.

And then, in the blink of an eye, it was gone. Replaced by a look of pure terror as she looked between the two of us and to the elevator wall.

"Lu? What is it?" I asked, dread settling back in to smash the warm feeling that had so briefly emerged.

"Oh gods Veon,  _no_ …"

"What's happening?! Hey!"

I took her by the shoulders to shake her. She jumped at my touch, her eyes wide and unfocused as though she wasn't seeing me, only feeling me. Her eyes were looking at something else.

"Chaos granted him the power," she stuttered breathlessly.

"What power?"

" _Chaos's_  power!"

"He did it?!" Emily exclaimed hopefully.

She nodded, but her face was still stricken with terror. "He won both of their favors, but…" She clasped her hand over her mouth. "It's just what he wanted! Tartarus  _needed_  it that way!"

"What do you mean?!" I demanded. "Come on, we can't just ask more and more questions! Try and spell it out straight!"

She backed against the elevator doors, sealed behind her, to stabilize herself. "We all thought that getting both Chaos and Order's blessing was impossible because we'd be overwhelmed," she choked out, her voice uneven. "It was the opposite. Together they…canceled each other out with Veon right in the middle."

"But aren't they from the same source or whatever?"

"Yes, but that's the thing. No one's ever combined Order and Chaos in a  _host_  before! It's never even been  _attempted_ , let alone survived. Humans are dangerous creatures that must never wield the powers of the cosmos all at once. We have diversity and imagination and freedom to learn from our mistakes, and that can essentially make us completely invincible if given enough time. With the power of all creation at our fingertips, imagine the chaos. It's why the magic world and the mortal world have to stay separate. If you think monsters and magic are crossing the line when it comes to revealing the mortal world, you've barely scratched the surface. For a similar reason, Chaos and Order  _must_  remain separate entities.

"Veon…he was always a unique soul. Order and Chaos both saw it from the very beginning. So did Tartarus. Out of the two of us, it never mattered who won whose favor or who won both. Veon was a neutralizer. He could contain the most dangerous aspects of them because he was so damn placating. I was a catalyst. I could increase either of their most dangerous aspects. It isn't about Order being more eccentric or Chaos being a bit of a hermit. It's just the danger. The kind of miracles we can perform."

"Wait, so…the dangers of Order I think I get," I said. "She was destructive and impulsive and a bit rude at times when she wasn't a bit out of it. But  _Chaos?_ "

"It's like when Emily completely shut down all of us at Medea's store. Remember? To stop all the fighting, she had to take away everything else, too. It's kinda like that. There's always a danger of swinging too far in either direction - power or peace. Switching back and forth between Order and Chaos…we all thought it was just a fluke. It never was. Emily was chosen for this team because she represented the humanity within us. She would keep us in control, balance us out. If we were getting too much Order, not enough Chaos, we'd switch Order to Veon and Chaos to me. Put both Order and Chaos together in Veon-"

"He cancels them both out, right," Emily followed. "Essentially, the more power that you put into him, the more he nullifies it. Like the surface tension of water - the harder you hit it, the more it resists."

"But if both of them were to be put into  _you?_ " I had to ask.

"The power might be unfathomable. I can't say that everything could be destroyed by it. It'd be more like…everything would be happening at once, things would be created and destroyed so fast that there wouldn't be a moment to comprehend it all. Uh…imagine a video with an epilepsy warning with flashing lights and swirling colors that keep switching faster and faster from dizzying image to dizzying image and it feels like the screen should be cracking under the intense pressure. Or maybe it would be calm and smooth and just the world would just look completely fucked up with no hope of repair. Who knows?"

I sighed at the stress managing to get her to curse.

"So what happened to Veon?"

"Chaos and Order canceled each other out and all three of them were vulnerable to Tartarus. Tartarus now has the body of Veon imbued with the powers of Order and Chaos under his control."

"That shouldn't be  _possible_ , right?" Emily asked optimistically. "Humans like you and Veon have to be specific to host those two and their powers, and neither of you can do it alone. Humans are special, you said. Tartarus…he may be a Primordial, but…"

"He couldn't wield their power together on his own. Be he could with Veon as an intermediate."

Realization must've dawned on both our faces at once because her expression darkened ever further.

"He planned this?" I asked.

"Probably not alone, but yeah."

"We can still stop them, right?" Emily asked. Bless her soul for remaining an eternal optimist. "Tartarus is a giant pit. I can't imagine he'd instantly have full control over not only a human but his parents with the power of the whole universe and all things that exist and don't."

Lu stared pensively. "We probably have a small window of opportunity, right. But I can't promise anything. Look, Order brought the two of you into our group for a reason. Emily is meant to represent the heart and soul of humans. Audrey, you have to provide us with raw power - physical control. Your power over water, to make it build bodies that you can take control of. That kind of power can be achieved by any magician, but we're going to need something stronger. We need bodies that can contain all of our power - especially if it comes together into one. I don't necessarily mean human bodies, either. A body of water, for example. We just need form. Strong form that takes a lot of thought and concentration. Emily's power relies on intuition, feelings, no hesitation. You need to be the opposite. You need to be our brains when we're overwhelmed by brawn. Both of you have to work together - gut instinct along with rational evaluation. It seems like it's a simple concept when you're human as we are now, but when we're dealing with the Primordials Order and Chaos themselves, when we're in such a desperate situation, when we're experimenting with things we don't understand-"

Emily rested her hand on Lu's shoulder and she froze. I realized that she had been trembling heavily, but Emily had brought it to a stop instantly with a warm smile. "Lu, just tell us what to do. We'll be behind you the whole way; we won't fail you."

She let out a deep breath, the tension from her shoulders fading even if it didn't vanish completely. Her face still remained despondent, but it was at least a little more relaxed. "Right. Thanks." She lowered her gaze. "No matter what happens, just…thanks."

We smiled to her together.

"Of course," Emily said.

"Ever at your side," I saluted. "Did I say it right?"

She nodded, a smile tugging at her lips despite the situation. "You'd make a great Kingsglaive." She stood straight and took on a serious expression once more. "We've got about a minute or so left to make a plan, so-"

Despite how fast she had tried to ramble and explain, we'd lost track of time. We'd had eight minutes last time she checked up. Now, the elevator dinged and came to a jolting stop.

We were out of time.

* * *

Third Person: No. 1

Getting killed by Tartarus didn't seem like much of an honor.

No. 1 had died many times from many horrific different incidents. Not all of them were necessarily inflicted upon her by force in the Ward. It was times like these, staring into the whirlpool face of her failures that she decided she really just wanted to die in some less memorable way - maybe falling down the stairs, or going peacefully in her sleep after a good hundred years of a life with people she loved. Yes, that sounded good.

It wasn't the first time they'd faced an enemy they couldn't defeat by force. No. 1 often killed using her Remnants, but there were some creatures that killing was impossible or even detrimental to her goals. Each of her new Remnants grew wiser with more experience fighting without fighting. She knew how to talk her way out of a situation, Athena-like chitchats that would stall for time. But right now, her voice wouldn't work. She couldn't even close her mouth. For all she knew, she was drooling as badly as Percy did when he slept.

"Do."

Bless her familiar for being able to function at a time like this. The stuffed poodle recovered from the fall and climbed back onto No. 1's shoulder. She instantly felt a small wave of relief at being in contact with her familiar as the stuffed animal comfortably settled into place.

No. 1 was dimly aware of the army of monsters swirling around her, but after their initial roar of triumph, the horde had fallen silent. Annabeth and Percy should have been ripped to pieces by now. Instead, the monsters kept their distance, waiting for Tartarus to act. The tug on Tartarus's presence was strong within No. 1's mind. She could feel Tartarus commanding hesitation among the monsters. None of the monsters dared to act without permission, and No. 1 was no exception. The fear of moving or acting out washed over her with enough force to pin her frozen. Only her poodle helped her from breaking down entirely. This had seemed so much easier on paper.

The god of the pit flexed his fingers, examining his own polished black talons. If No. 1 had ever imagined Veon as a demon, this is what he'd look like. In the Greco-Roman world, this was pretty much as demonic as it got. His borrowed face had little expression, but he began to flex his face muscles as though experimenting. His face managed to look neutral, maybe even a bit smug. There were so many nuances to the face, that it was hard to tell if he was looking how he wanted to. He straightened his shoulders as if he were pleased.

" _It is good to have form,_ " he intoned. " _With these hands, I can eviscerate you._ "

His voice sounded like a backwards recording - as if the words were being sucked into the vortex of his body rather than projected. In fact,  _everything_  seemed to be drawn towards the body of this god - the dim light, the poisonous clouds, the essence of the monsters, even the fragile life forces of the demigods trapped down here. Every object on this vast plain had grown a vaporous comet's tail - all pointing towards Tartarus.

No. 1 knew she was the only thing protecting these two helpless demigods, but her instincts told her to hide, to avoid doing anything that would draw the god's attention. Besides, what could she say? ' _You won't get away with this!_ ' That wasn't true. They'd only survived this long because Tartarus was savoring his new form. He wanted the pleasure of physically ripping them to pieces. If Tartarus wished, No. 1 had no doubt he could devour their existence with a single thought, as easily as he'd vaporized Hyperion and Krios. Would there be any rebirth from that? None of them wanted to find out.

The power of Erótisi coursed through No. 1, but she had no idea what that meant in the face of such a powerful being. All she knew was that Tartarus was powerful enough on his own, but she was sensing something more. Her mother's power was there, faint, but real. Her mother was trapped within Chaos. The power of Order had killed No. 1 on more than one occasion. It was pulsing faintly from within Tartarus as well. Veon had gained their favor, and his only reward had been…this.

Next to her, Percy did something she'd never seen him do. He dropped his sword. It just fell out of his hand and hit the ground with a thud. Death Mist no longer shrouded his face, but he still had the complexion of a corpse.

Tartarus hissed again - possibly laughing. " _Your fear smells wonderful. I see the appeal of having a physical body with so many senses. Perhaps my beloved Gaea is right, wishing to wake from her slumber._ "

He stretched out his massive purple hand and might have plucked Percy like a weed, but Bob interrupted.

"Begone!" The Titan leveled his spear at the god. "You have no right to meddle!"

" _Meddle?_ " Tartarus turned. " _I am the lord of_ all _creatures of the darkness, puny Iapetus. I am not the lord of all creatures of the light as well! I can do as I please._ "

His black cyclone began to spin around his body, picking up power and spinning faster. He was a living disaster. The howling sound was so horrible, No. 1 had to clutch her ears. Her poodle did the same despite the fact that its ears were technically nothing but fluff and cloth. Bob stumbled, the wispy comet tail of his life force growing longer as it was sucked towards the face of the god. Bob roared in defiance. He charged and thrust his spear at Tartarus's chest. Before it could connect, Tartarus swatted Bob aside like he was a pesky insect. The Titan went sprawling, but he wasn't disintegrated instantly like his brothers.

" _Why do you not disintegrate?_ " Tartarus mused, and No. 1 realized that it wasn't just a coincidence that Bob was still there. " _You are nothing. You are even weaker than Krios and Hyperion._ "

"No, he's  _stronger_ ," No. 1 realized, thinking aloud despite the dangers. "He did something no other Titan ever has. He became more than just a monster."

"I am Bob," Bob stated.

Tartarus hissed. " _What is that? What is Bob?_ "

"I choose to be more than Iapetus," The Titan said. "You do not control me. I am not like my brothers."

" _I control all of creation! No matter what you have become, Iapetus, you are still beneath me!_ "

The collar of his coveralls bulged. Small Bob leaped out. The kitten landed on the ground in front of his master, then arched his back and hissed at the lord of the abyss. Small Bob began to grow before their eyes, his form flickering until the little kitten had become a full-sized, translucent skeletal saber-toothed tiger.

"Also," Bob announced, "I have a good cat."

No. 1, meanwhile, couldn't help but laugh as thoughts sprang into her mind.

"You have Order and Chaos imprisoned, but you don't know how to use their powers," No. 1 realized. "Zytaveon might have possessed their blessings, but he wasn't the one that knew how to use them. That…that skill is something he was never able to learn because of all your meddling. He never got proper training, all he did was learn to summon once." No. 1 found herself smiling. "You chose the wrong host! Big sister was the only one who knew how to use the power of the ancient Primordials! Even you can't force their powers to bend to your will - no matter if you  _are_  using the catalyst of their combined strength. You can't control creation or destruction! You'll forever be trapped as the combination of the two, and therefore you are  _neither_. This is the place where monsters come in death, but it is also the place they come to be reborn! Life and death together in an imperfect mix, and you will  _never_  be able to steal the power away from your parents!"

In hindsight, it was rash of No. 1 to speak so boldly when Bob was the only one who stood a chance against this creature. Even if he didn't have the powers of Order and Chaos, he still had them bound and was more than enough to instantly wipe them off the map with a single thought. Tartarus was, predictably, none too pleased. When he roared, the entire area vibrated with the intensity of his rage. It was becoming hard to stay conscious, the heavy atmosphere attacking from all sides. Tartarus had become a black hole of rage and destruction.

No. 1 had died from the destructive power of Order a total of about seven times. Three of those times were simply from fatigue. Two of them were from burning alive. Two of them were from explosive power being released. Her Remnants would be consumed by Tartarus's vortex, there was no doubt about it, but the vortex was the only way to get close enough to attack. She would have only a couple chances to get a hit in. Now was as good a time as any.

No. 1 released one of her explosive Remnants with the power of Order, and she launched free, knowing what she needed to do. Her body was covered in a red lava-like aura that reduced her to little more than a humanoid supernova with eyes and a mouth. Against the darkness of Chaos, she didn't make the air any easier to breathe in. If someone lived up in the mountains at a higher altitude and then came down lower to near sea level, the atmosphere would be uncomfortably heavy, and their lungs would have trouble coping. Imagine that, but also with the heat of the sun that was capable of vaporizing everything within a ten-meter radius.

When the Remnant contacted the destructive force of Tartarus, everything exploded. Monsters and demigods alike were blinded by the light and nearly knocked out from the force that washed over the area. When the air finally cleared, No. 1 looked over to see that Percy and Annabeth were still alive and well. Up in the air where Tartarus had been, the large, looming humanoid form of the god remained, but the vortex of dark, swirling, chaotic energy had dissipated. Tartarus was hunched over, clutching his stomach from the attack, but he was still whole and intact. There wasn't a scratch on him, but even though he had little experience with facial expressions, he looked positively shocked - so much so that he wasn't made even angrier. He was simply stunned.

The entire monster army, Percy and Annabeth, No. 1, No-Longer-Small Bob - everyone seemed to be holding their breath.

Finally, Tartarus's dark eyes locked onto No. 1. " _You will suffer greatly for that, small one._ "

If Tartarus's voice was horrific before, the malice in his voice now reverberated across his pit and shook even the monsters to the core. He was absolutely pissed. No. 1 would've felt proud at making her enemies lose their cool, but right now all she could do was tremble. Her poodle climbed down to hold onto No. 1 by her shoulder, therefore shielding itself from Tartarus before them. Smart poodle.

"Do…" It muttered.

No. 1 got the message: ' _Maybe this wasn't such a good idea._ '

Before anyone could react, No-Longer-Small Bob sprang at Tartarus while he was distracted, sinking his claws into Tartarus's thigh. The tiger scrambled up his leg straight under the god's chain-link skirt. Tartarus stomped and howled, apparently no longer enamored with having a physical form. Meanwhile, Bob thrust his spear into the god's side, right below his breastplate. Tartarus roared. He swatted at Bob, but the Titan backed out of reach. Bob thrust out his fingers and his spear yanked itself free of the god's flesh and flew back into Bob's hand.

"Neat," No. 1 muttered.

She'd never imagined a broom could have so many useful features. Then again, the broom was probably just a disguised weapon of the Titan's. No. 1 wondered what it looked like in true spear-form.

Small Bob dropped out of Tartarus's skirt. He ran to his master's side, his saber-toothed fangs dripping with golden ichor.

" _Now you will die first, Iapetus,_ " Tartarus decided. " _Afterwards, I will add your soul to my armor, where it will slowly dissolve, over and over, in eternal agony._ "

Tartarus pounded his fist against his breastplate. Milky faces swirled in the metal, silently screaming to get out.

No. 1 stared at the distorted face of Veon. At this rate, they were going to destroy his body before they ever made a dent in Tartarus. Tartarus could just abandon Veon's body should the battle begin to sway out of his favor - if it ever did. They were still in Tartarus's heart at the moment, the very ground beneath their feet was against them, and they had an entire army waiting to crush them the moment Tartarus gave the order. No. 1 needed to somehow find a way to free Zytaveon, and then Zytaveon needed to find a way to free the Primordials. It was either him or No. 1's big sister. They were the only ones who could save the Primordials.

" ** _It shall all end soon._** "

"What?" No. 1 asked, looking around. That voice sounded familiar.

" ** _They have made the decision to end this before Tartarus can have his way._** "

"Mom…?"

" ** _Stop him. The two of you must stop his madness before he truly grasps the power he has. He may not have access to Order and Chaos now, but that does not mean he is incapable of learning with time._** "

On the horizon, No. 1 saw something blurring beyond the monster army. It took a moment for her to realize that it was some kind of shadow falling over the land of Tartarus. It was being destroyed, dissolving away.

" ** _They have begun the end. You are running out of time to save them. Held within the clutches of Tartarus, their willpower is still superior. If the destruction reaches the overworld, every apocalypse in every mythology will be triggered._** "

"That's not good," No. 1 muttered.

Bob turned towards Percy and Annabeth. The Titan grinned, which probably would not have been the average person's reaction to a threat of eternal agony from Tartarus himself.

"Take the Doors," Bob said. "I will deal with Tartarus."

Tartarus threw back his head and bellowed - creating a vacuum so strong that the nearest flying demons were pulled into his vortex and shredded.

"Deal _with me?_ " The god mocked. " _You are only a Titan, a_ lesser _child of Gaea! I will make you suffer for your arrogance. And as for your tiny mortal friends…_ " Tartarus swept his hand towards the monster army, beckoning them forward. " _DESTROY THEM!_ "

The Doors behind her dinged, and No. 1 looked up to Bob in confusion.

"Someone's come through," she realized.

She reached up and pressed the glass button to let the Doors open. The first person who came through caused No. 1 to speak without thinking.

"Big sister."

She didn't notice No. 1 at first. She was staring out at the horde of monsters approaching and the Tartarus up in the sky.

"Emily! Audrey! Sonic command!"

Audrey stepped forward and held her hands up. "Ready when you are!"

Emily put her hands on Audrey's shoulder's from behind her and No. 1 mimicked her big sister in plugging her ears.

"Percy, Annabeth! Ears!"

The two of them knew well enough what that meant. They clapped their hands over their ears and ducked down.

Emily took a deep breath and shouted, amplified by Audrey's sonic powers, "STOP!"

Both the sound and the command swept over the area with a physical force. Even when she wasn't the target of the attack, No. 1 still felt a punch in the chest that commanded her body to seize and hold still no matter what happened. Some of the flying monsters came crashing down because they had stopped commanding their wings to beat and keep them in the air. The rest of the army on the ground which had been ready to charge found themselves stopped - most completely frozen, others fighting to regain control of themselves.

"Annabeth, get the chains on the Doors! Audrey, I hear water beneath us! Flood everything you can! Percy!" Rei snatched up Riptide and tossed it to him. "Slice down anything that still breathes! Emily, I need you to help get me to him!"

She pointed up at Tartarus in the sky, who was struggling to move his limbs again. The effect was clearly weaker on him than the monster army, but his physical body was working against him in that regard.

"Do we have to make physical contact?" Emily asked.

"Not sure. Just see what you can do. I'll cover you."

"Big sister, wait!" No. 1 shouted.

"We've only got one shot at this, so do not fail! I need all of you alive when this is over!"

"Bob can help you get close," Bob announced.

"That'd be great, big guy."

"Sister!" No. 1 ran to her, poodle in hand. "Why do you abandon me?! Sister!"

She grabbed Rei's arm and the teenager flinched. She turned and looked down as though just realizing No. 1 was there.

"If you ever want to get out of here, prove you're worth it."

With that, Rei charged with Bob and Emily towards Tartarus and Small Bob to fend him off.


	38. All That Awaits You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guuuuueeeeeeeesssss who managed to get out the second chapter of the Tartarus final battle and who is actually getting to work on the third part rather than taking sanctuary in my other stories because school is returning and STRESS?!
> 
> Yippee!
> 
> I hope the 5 followers out there (on Fanfic anyway) appreciate it.
> 
> Enjoy :)

First Person: Rei

The plan here was simple: there was no plan.

Annabeth dove for the chains holding the Doors of Death, her drakon-bone blade cutting through the left-side moorings in a single swipe. Audrey threw out her hands, causing the rivers of the underworld pumping through the heart of Tartarus to burst free, mixing into a nightmarish churning pool of hatred, forgetfulness, pain, fire, and lamentation. Controlling the rivers of the underworld was no easy feat, blessed with special powers or not. Audrey's powers were stronger than Percy's but far from enough to control all five rivers at once. She had to shoot small streams from each river individually, and any of the rivers she couldn't control were left leaking out across the battlefield at their own discretion.

"Time to give the big man a heart attack," She muttered.

She began shooting down the larger horde of monsters with the five rivers, making sure that Percy and Annabeth weren't overwhelmed instantly. Percy drove back the first wave of monsters with Riptide that made it through Audrey's defenses. He stabbed an arai and yelped, "Gah! Stupid curses!" Then he scythed down a half dozen telkhines. Annabeth lunged behind him and sliced through the chains on the other side. The Doors shuddered and then reopened with another pleasant ' _Ding!_ ' after it had closed upon Emily, Audrey, and I arriving. It was waiting to make the trip back up.

I charged with Bob and Emily to reach Tartarus. With Small Bob the saber-toothed tiger joining us, we began the assault that had absolutely no goal but to do whatever we could.

"I hate to say this, but I think we have to jump into his vortex Emily! It's the only way to reach them! Bob, no matter what happens to us, you need to look after the others and hold Tartarus and the monsters off! We can stop Tartarus, but until then, all we need is time!"

" _You can_ stop _me, can you, foolish child?_ " Tartarus hissed. " _I welcome you to try!_ "

I grabbed Emily's hand. "Focus on Veon and any memory you have of the Primordials' power! We're running out of time!"

I had seen on the horizon, as far as I could see, that the end was beginning. It was beginning from the source of Chaos and Order, it would leak through to Tartarus, and then it would reach the mortal world, spreading to through to signal the end in every religion. Armageddon, Ragnarok, whatever you wanted to call it. Maybe all of it would happen at once. All those tales about people returning in the world's hour of need would be pretty interesting, but beyond that, I don't think we want the deities of creation and destruction itself to be giving up on this world.

Our attack on Tartarus went better than I thought it would. At first, he didn't do much. Bob and his saber-toothed sidekick continued to weave around Tartarus's legs, attacking and dodging to stay out of his clutches. They didn't seem to be doing much damage, but Tartarus lurched around, obviously still not used to fighting in a humanoid body. He swiped and missed, swiped and missed. Emily and I went in, her wielding her dagger and me wielding Veon's lance. Tartarus actively tried to avoid contacting either of us, which I took as a good sign.

"Get ready! Here comes the hard part!"

I stabbed my lance at Tartarus's heart, almost torn by Veon's expression which the god wore. Emily dropped her knife and surged forward, gripping his head and pressing her thumbs against his temples. She closed her eyes and concentrated with everything she had, and I felt the blessings Order and Chaos gave to both her and Audrey for their roles in this fight come to life.

Her entire body glowed with a white aura before she announced, "Got it!"

She reached out and took my hand, and then we both exploded.

* * *

First Person: Audrey

Both Emily and Lu fell from Tartarus, but the god merely staggered from the two of them exploding with white light. Bob the Titan swept in and caught them before they hit the ground, but both were unconscious and still glowing white like they were burning alive. He moved them over to the Doors where Annabeth and Percy were fighting. More monsters were surging towards the Doors and the two of them in turn. I started to pull large amounts of water from the five rivers free, tearing large holes in the ground that was Tartarus and letting the rivers flow free to block the path of most of the monsters.

I threw the fire river as a primary offensive river, but raining down the river of pain, forgetfulness, and lamentation were always useful. Even using the river of hatred started making the monsters begin to turn on each other, but other times it could just make them more angry at us - particularly Percy, since so many of them apparently had a grudge against my brother. Leaving the rivers to mostly flow where they wanted and provide obstructions that force-funneled the monsters, I drew my trident and began to attack manually to help Percy and Annabeth. As much as I hated to admit it, using hydrokinesis on rivers that weren't completely…well hydro, it was draining me faster than I'd like. Even using my trident wouldn't help because none of these rivers were regular water, none of them were within Poseidon's realm of power.

I stabbed and slashed with my trident through a group of empousai as I rushed to join the others. A spear flew past Annabeth's head. She turned and stabbed a stray empousai through the gut, then dove for the Doors as they started to close. She kept them open with her foot as she fought. At least with her back to the elevator car, she didn't have to worry about attacks from behind.

"Percy, get over here!" She yelled.

He joined her in the doorway, his face dripping with sweat and blood from several cuts.

"You okay?" She asked.

He nodded. "Got some kind of pain curse from that arai!" He hacked a gryphon out of the air. "Hurts, but it won't kill me! Get in the elevator! I'll hold the button!"

"Yeah, right!" She smacked a carnivorous horse in the snout with the butt of her sword and sent the monster stampeding through the approaching crowd. "You promised, Seaweed Brain. We would  _not_  get separated! Ever again!"

"You're impossible!"

"Love you too!"

An entire phalanx of Cyclopes charged forward, knocking smaller monsters out of the way. Annabeth figured she was about to die. "It had to be Cyclopes," she grumbled.

I charged up and launched with the hovering powers of my trident and struck one Cyclops through the back of its head. The surprise broke the formation as I launched to the next Cyclops to take it down. Percy gave a battle cry as he summoned one of the rivers. At the Cyclopes' feet, a red vein in the ground burst open, spraying the monsters with liquid fire from the Phlegethon. The firewater might have healed mortals, but it didn't do the Cyclopes any favors. They combusted in a tidal wave of heat and I jumped to safety, rolling to a stop near Percy and Annabeth. The burst vein sealed itself, but nothing remained of the monsters except a row of scorch marks.

Bob dropped off the two burning demigods, setting them at our feet before turning and returning to help his tiger friend as they attacked Tartarus once more to keep him distracted. I reached down to grab Emily, but my hand went through her and burnt, like she was made of steam. We wouldn't be able to get them into the elevator even if we tried. It was a miracle Bob had managed to get over here because Tartarus had been dazed by whatever Emily and Lu had done. Tartarus wouldn't let him get a break to come over and pick them up, but I had a feeling that wasn't what they wanted. We needed them here in Tartarus to break Veon and the Primordials out. Even if we made it back up there, it would mean nothing if the Primordials were still intent on ending the world anyway.

"Annabeth, you  _have_  to go!" Percy was saying. "We can't both stay!"

"No!" she cried. "Duck!"

He didn't ask why. He crouched, and Annabeth vaulted over him, bringing her sword down on the head of a heavily tattooed ogre. I took my backup sword and shoved the hilt between the elevator doors to keep them open an inch - enough to push the elevator doors back open when we had the chance, but losing my secondary weapon could be dangerous.

"You're not getting left here, Percy, no matter how self-sacrificing you're feeling!" I announced. "If we can hold the line until they manage to free the Primordials, we'll be home free!"

"And if they can't?" Percy dared to ask.

"Then…then both of you need to get to the surface. I can hold the button, but both of you are part of the Prophecy of Seven. If you make it, there's still hope. We'll work on our end to keep the world spinning and give you enough time to stop Gaea."

"You can't hold off all of these monsters for twelve whole minutes."

"I've got Bob, and with luck, I'll have the others to back me up soon enough. Haven't you heard? I'm blessed by the gods or something."

I could see the frustration on both of their faces. The Doors of Death stood right behind them - their exit from this nightmarish world. But they couldn't use the Doors without someone manning the controls for twelve long minutes. If they stepped inside and let the Doors close without someone holding the button, I didn't think the results would be healthy. And if they stepped away from the Doors for any reason, I imagined the elevator would close and disappear without them. We could hold the Doors open with my sword to buy time and have our hands free to fight, but all that would do was buy us time. We didn't know how long we needed to save the Primordials. If the two of them stayed and we couldn't hold out long enough, the Prophecy of Seven could come crumbling down. But this was my job. I promised I would do everything I could to not let my friends down.

We stood facing the army of monsters, waiting for the next wave, but a lot of the still-flowing rivers that I'd left open and flooding seemed to be holding them back - for now. The veins that had burst to release the rivers were sealing, and tearing them open again would continue draining a lot of my strength. It was a miracle I'd been able to keep them bleeding as long as I have. It wouldn't be long before they remembered ' _Hey, wait, there's seventy-five gazillion of us, and only three of them_.' The front of the crowd inched forward, snarling and gathering their courage.

Meanwhile, Bob's attacks were getting slower. Tartarus was learning to control his new body. Saber-toothed Small Bob lunged at the god, but Tartarus smacked the cat sideways. Bob charged, bellowing with rage, but Tartarus gathered his spear and yanked it out of his hands. He kicked Bob downhill, knocking over a row of telkhines like sea mammal bowling pins.

" _YIELD_ ," Tartarus thundered.

"I will not," Bob declared. "You are not my master."

" _Die in defiance, then. You Titans are nothing to me. My children the giants were always better, stronger, and more vicious. They will make the upper world as dark as my realm!_ "

Tartarus snapped the spear in half. Bob wailed in agony. Saber-toothed Small Bob leaped to his aid, snarling at Tartarus and baring his fangs. The Titan struggled to rise, but I knew it was over. Even the monsters turned to watch, as if sensing that their master Tartarus was about to take the spotlight. The death of a Titan was worth seeing.

Then, he staggered as though he had been punched in the gut, and I saw Veon's facial features seize in pain. When he opened his eyes, the black void that had replaced him was gone, and the real Veon spoke, his desperation leaking through. "Bob!  _Bob!_  Don't you hurt him! STOP!"

" _Submit! You are defeated! Your body and soul are mine!_ "

"Bob is my  _friend!_  You won't kill him! I won't  _let_  you!" Veon's expression fought for control, but in the end, he pulled through. "I can syphon the powers of Chaos and Order, I can make them weaker. Which means I can do the same to  _you_ , bastard!"

He balled his hands into fists and pulled them to his chest. With a grunt of effort and then a battle cry, he charged up power that flowed across his body, and then the aura seemed to punch him. His aura exploded and he staggered back. When he opened his eyes, Tartarus was back in control, and he looked pissed as all get out.

Before any of us could move, someone charged up to Tartarus and grabbed him, holding fast to him before they self-destructed. Tartarus was hit by an invisible force that threw his head back so far that it had to have been broken. Though I expected him to heal the wound instantly, it took him time to heal. His bones slowly cracked back into position, and his expression seemed so human it was almost comical. He was shocked. He didn't know what just happened, he didn't know  _why_. Another person came running up to him, exploding on impact and causing him to be set on fire, his entire body put into the climax of an inferno. He brushed at the flames, forcing them to dissipate, but he couldn't just instantly put the fire out. More than that, he could be set on fire in the  _first place_.

I finally noticed the source of the sacrifices: the youngest of Lu's Remnants, No. 1. She was standing beside the Doors, holding her hands together in front of her, with her stuffed animal sitting on her shoulder.

"He made it so that I can hurt you, Tartarus," The little girl said. "Percy, Annabeth. You can choose to stay, or Audrey will hold the elevator button for you. I can hold him off for the time that you need. Take Bob. He wanted to see the sun and the stars, didn't he?"

"What about the monster army?" I asked.

"I have a thousand Remnants at my disposal, and so long as I remain in Tartarus, I can revive them as many times as necessary."

"But No. 1, didn't you want to be free too?" Annabeth asked.

"In this place, time does not flow as it should. Like a black hole, the closer you come to the source of this world - and the end of it - the more distorted reality becomes. I've been down here longer than you think. And I can stay down here as long as I need to. All I ever wanted was to find big sister. She's here with me now, and I know what I need to do. I am a monster because I never should've existed. But the whole reason that I do means that I have a role to play in this battle: buying time. Just like Audrey, just like Emily, I need to help save the Primordials, and maybe then I can find the peace that I'm looking for."

She released another Remnant who attacked Tartarus. He reached out to intercept the Remnant, but it dissolved upon making contact again. Tartarus began to choke, unable to breathe. He still managed to get in his breath and recover, but it took him longer than it should have for one of the most ancient Primordial beings facing a little asphyxiation.

"Percy, Annabeth, if you leave those Doors, you won't be able to go home. The Primordials will not allow it even if we manage to save them. But I cannot promise that if you make it everything will be okay. You have more challenges to face even should you successfully make it to the other side of those Doors to the House of Hades. You can stay here with us and fight for as long as you want, but you will have to go through those Doors at some point or else you will die here. Die and be free of the fate dropped upon your shoulders - leave the burden to your friends instead - or live and face more challenges to come. One way or another, the rest of us will be fighting with everything we have, and we could use you two alive."

Percy looked over to Bob. He looked to Annabeth, to No. 1, to Emily and Lu on the ground in front of him, and then to me.

"Audrey, you've gotta promise me you'll make it out of here when this is all over.  _All_  of you. All of you better be there on the Argo II with us, eating blue pancakes and laughing about absolutely nothing."

I smiled. "Only if you promise to make it out now."

He nodded. "Bob! Come on! We can make it!"

" _You will not!_ " Tartarus cried. " _You cannot escape my-!_ "

" _You_  need to learn a lesson in shutting your Primordial mouth," No. 1 glared, releasing another three Remnants this time.

"Do!" Her stuffed animal agreed. It raised a defiant fist as though to provoke a fight.

He was struck with the three Remnants and their deaths, crying out in rage, " _DESTROY THEM! DESTROY THEM ALL!_ "

The five rivers that were only slowly drying up and still holding back the majority of the monster army dissolved instantly. It took a second, but the army stirred and realized they were being given free rein to charge. No. 1 closed her eyes and summoned all of her Remnants at once. An army of Remnants rose from the depths. There were over a thousand Remnants, all bearing the evidence of their deaths, but it still looked puny compared to the endless sea of monsters that stood before them. A couple of the Remnants split off to charge towards Tartarus, and when they exploded and disappeared, they reformed at the back of the Remnant army anew.

"I can hold them back," No. 1 repeated. "For as long as it takes. Go!"

I ran over to help Bob, Percy and Annabeth joining me as we made our way back to the Doors. Bob stumbled away from the battle, his saber-toothed cat at his side. Percy and I gave as much as we could - causing blood vessels in the ground to burst one after the other. Some monsters were vaporized in Styx water. Others got a Cocytus shower and collapsed, weeping hopelessly. Others were doused with liquid Lethe and stared blankly around them, no longer sure where they were or even  _who_  they were. Bob limped to the Doors. Golden ichor flowed from the wounds on his arms and chest, his janitor's outfit hung in tatters, and his posture was twisted and hunched, as if Tartarus's breaking the spear had broken something inside him. Despite all that, he was grinning, his silver eyes bright with satisfaction.

No. 1 and the monsters each had their armies meet. The Remnants wiped out anything they touched, some in more deadly ways than others. They didn't have many defensive capabilities, which was their one weakness. They were turned to dust en masse, but they reformed at the back of the pack with little hesitation. It was only a matter of whether they could keep this up for as long as they needed. If the monsters found a break in the Remnant lines, they could reach me, and if too many made it through, I could be overwhelmed. But No. 1 didn't yield. She was determined to buy all the time she could.

Tartarus roared in rage as he was struck with more of the Remnants, sending a shockwave of energy that blasted through both the monster army and the Remnant army alike. The Remnant army, however, was smaller, and so they were nearly driven completely to the brink. They reformed quickly, but the monster army took the chance to close the gap and use the space to push the Remnant army back. They surged forward with No. 1 increasing her concentration, but she also had to focus on making sure there were more Remnants distracting Tartarus to prevent him from turning the tables too quickly.

Percy and Annabeth looked conflicted. They had barely known this girl for very long, they knew the dangers she could pose if she escaped to the upper world and decided to wreak havoc, but she was giving it her all to help them escape. She'd been down there for who knows how long and she'd be down here for who knows how much longer if she decided to oppose this army. She'd have to destroy all of the monsters, and even if her Remnants could manage to do that, Tartarus couldn't be held back forever. No. 1 would be outranked by Tartarus soon enough; this was his land. Even if No. 1 wanted to run when it was all over, she'd never be able to escape Tartarus's wrath, not when he was this angry at her. She'd be stuck in an infinite battle until she lost, there would be no victory for her, no escape. Especially if Lu and Emily failed, there might be no chance of salvation for her. If they succeeded, would she be rewarded for helping? Or would she still be trapped down here until the end of time? If anything we knew of the Primordials was true, they wouldn't care about her sacrifice or her feelings. They'd punish Tartarus and then they'd just leave her.

"She needs help," Percy announced.

"Percy, you can't," Annabeth croaked, though she looked just as conflicted. "Tartarus  _can't_  be fought. Not by us."

They both knew she was right. Tartarus was in a class by himself. He was more powerful than the gods or Titans. Despite what Veon had done to weaken him, demigods were still nothing to him. No. 1 was only holding on because she was a monster that had the power to revive herself at will so long as she was in Tartarus. If No. 1 herself got taken out, then the entire army would collapse since No. 1's status as the first was allowing her to revive her army faster than most monsters could revive in Tartarus. If Percy charged in to help, he would get squashed like an ant.

But we knew that Percy couldn't just leave well enough alone. He wouldn't leave someone that was helping him to die alone. That just wasn't him - and that was one of the many reasons Annabeth loved him, even if he was an Olympian-sized pain in the podex.

"We'll go together," Annabeth decided.

"This is foolish, you must escape," Bob insisted.

"I can't just leave her," Percy said. "I won't let my friends fight battles where we have to lose in order to win."

Annabeth rested her hand on his, a quick gesture to say that she supported him. She nodded. "I'm with you, Percy."

"She told you guys that you won't escape if you don't go now," I said, anger seeping into my voice. "She's fighting for you to  _escape_. Once Lu and Emily are back and Veon's on our side with the Primordials, we'll be right behind you. If we fail, it'll all be over anyway, so go!"

"She is right," Bob concurred. "Leave now or fail, that is all there is."

" _Someone_  needs to stay and help her," Percy said helplessly.

"Someone stronger than you," I corrected.

"I will stay," Bob said.

"Not you, Bob! You and Small Bob go to the surface too. You've already fought your hardest."

Small Bob the not-so-small saber-toothed tiger growled in protest. The skeletal beast had been hit once or twice, but it was far from done fighting, it seemed to say.

Before we could argue further, a ripple of alarm passed through the army. In the distance, we heard shrieks, screams, and a persistent  _boom, boom, boom_  that was too fast to be the heartbeat in the ground - more like something large and heavy, running at full speed. An Earthborn spun into the air as if he'd been tossed. A plume of bright-green gas billowed across the top of the monstrous horde like the spray from a poison riot hose. Everything in its path dissolved. Across the swath of sizzling, newly empty ground, we finally spotted the cause of the commotion.

Annabeth started to grin. A Maeonian drakon spread its frilled collar and hissed, its poison breath filling the battlefield with the smell of pine and ginger. It shifted its hundred-foot-long body, flicking its dappled green tail and wiping out a battalion of ogres. Riding on its back was a red-skinned giant with flowers in his rust-colored braids, a jerkin of green leather, and a dragon-rib lance in his hand. On his shoulder, holding onto his hair for stability was a little green Curse, smiling brightly as she rode to battle on a giant.

"Damasen!" Annabeth cried, looking almost on the verge of tears from relief.

"Friend of yours?" I assumed.

The giant inclined his head. "Annabeth Chase, I took your advice! I chose myself a new fate!"

Tartarus's attention was now drawn away from No. 1, who did the smart thing and didn't provoke him by sending more Remnants. Tartarus was now facing away from the Doors, and by extension, the rest of us.

" _What is this?_ " The god of the pit hissed. " _Why have you come, my disgraced son?_ "

Damasen glanced at Annabeth, a clear message on his eyes: ' _Go. Now._ '

He turned towards Tartarus. The Maeonian drakon stamped its feet and snarled. "Father, you wished for a more worthy opponent?" Damasen asked calmly. "I am one of the giants you are so proud of. You wished me to be more warlike? Perhaps I will start by destroying you!"

Damasen leveled his lance and charged. The monstrous army turned their attention on him, attempting to swarm him, but the Maeonian drakon flattened everything in its path, sweeping its tail and spraying poison while Damasen jabbed at Tartarus, forcing the god to retreat like a cornered lion. The Curse on Damasen's shoulder glided down to the ground and snuck away from the encounter. She was nothing more than a dress of green smoke from the waist down, so she easily hovered over the rivers of bleeding Tartarus blood to reach us - more specifically, reach No. 1, who exhaled as she got a moment to breathe. Her Remnants had backed away from the Maeonian drakon, unlike the monster army who seemed to believe they could pull through if they just tried hard enough.

" _Hello_ ," The Curse said.

"You…are you…can you…?" No. 1 seemed to be out of breath, despite saying she could go on further had Damasen not arrived. "Can I hope?"

Curse smiled. " _I think so. I'm here to help Damasen, but you could always hijack me._ "

She held out a misty green hand, which No. 1 looked at with hope, but also hesitation. "Big sister said that I needed to prove my worth. I've tried, but I can't undo everything that I am. Do I deserve this chance?"

" _Well that's up to you. You were coming to find my mistress, correct? Because she was the only one who could change your fate as a monster to being something else. But I am her Curse; I am the one who can change fate and face the consequences. I can change the course of history without the timeline fixing itself, but I will instead face a new and uncertain future. I did so for Damasen, breaking his unending curse. Will you allow me to do the same for you?_ "

No. 1 stared at the outstretched hand uncertainly. "Do I  _deserve_ …to be free?"

Curse sighed. " _You'll learn soon enough that you were always destined to be free. You were destined to break free of your destiny._ "

"I can…I  _can_  go there?"

Curse shrugged. " _If you want. Take my hand and find out._ "

No. 1 slowly reached out her hand and found that the ghost girl was corporeal enough for her to grasp. All at once, every Remnant that had been released looked over to No. 1 and then they all exploded in a blast of light that acted like a bomb had gone off. The monster army suffered another large hit, but the Maeonian drakon took the chance to charge through the distracted front lines and retook the attention. For now. No. 1 herself gasped as the Curse dissolve completely into the glowing green smoke she was made of and flew into her mouth and eyes. By the time the Curse's essence had completely disappeared into No. 1, her eyes were shimmering the same lime green that the Curse had been. The light in her eyes faded to be a darker emerald.

She looked at her hands, and her familiar looked down with her. No. 1 jumped, as though just remembering her familiar was sitting on her shoulder. She reached up and pulled the stuffed poodle into her arms, squeezing it tightly with a giggle. "I feel heavier. I'm made anew!"

"Do!" Her poodle shouted.

She turned to find a centaur had charged up to strike her. No. 1 attempted to release a Remnant, but found that it wasn't working. Her Remnants had retreated back inside her, but she couldn't pull them free. All she could do was dive out of the way as the centaur charged past.

"You are not of this world anymore!" An empousa shouted. "Your power here now wanes!"

No. 1 grabbed onto the empousa's wrist as she swiped a claw to attack. The donkey lady was petrified from the touch, before she then dissolved into a pile of ash.

"I can still learn, you ass. I've still got over a thousand deaths to dish out in here." She started running in our direction. "You haven't  _left_ , you fools?!"

"You can come with us now," Percy exclaimed.

"But what about Damasen?" Annabeth reminded him. "We can't just  _leave_  him! He's fighting for us right now! He…he deserves the chance to go up!"

"Annabeth, hold the Doors!" I shouted.

She slipped her heel between the Doors so that she could still face the monster army while I snatched my sword from the elevator doors and sliced at an ogre with my trident, throwing my sword at a centaur. I launched up with my trident - the thrust from it being weaker than up in the Overworld, but still strong enough to lower gravity's effect. I came down on a gryphon in the air, bringing it down and using it to soften the blow of my landing. I snatched my sword up again from the ashes of the centaur and swung at an incoming empousa, tugging my trident free of the fallen gryphon so that I was wielding a weapon in each hand. The Maeonian drakon was handling monsters nearer to Tartarus, but that still left a great deal of the army that realized No. 1's Remnants weren't in the path of them and the Doors. I had to make up for the loss of over a thousand fighters that could instantly revive upon defeat.

I took a deep breath, though the air seemed to sting my lungs. Still, adrenaline surged through me. All I needed to do was buy time. All I needed to do was buy twelve minutes.

"Go!" I shouted. "Go now! While you still have the chance! We'll meet you up there when this is all over!"

I ran to the nearest monster attempting to run past me towards the Doors. I sliced at both it and the ground with my two weapons, bringing up a random river that must've been the Styx because I felt a terrible pulsing from just being near it. Ripping the wound open as wide as I could to prevent it from instantly sealing itself, I began to funnel the monster army, forcing them to walk around the pooling river if they wanted to get past. Of course, if any of them were patient and willing enough to go all the way around, they'd have a free shot at getting past me while I was distracted. I pushed for the Styx to expand even further.

"Come on then! You've got  _one_  demigod to fight and you all can't even manage  _that!_  Come and get it!"

I recalled how Frank had somehow managed to find the strength to take down all the katobleps in Venice with his blessing from Mars. That was what I needed right now, and what I attempted to summon. I tried to use the rivers of the underworld to give me strength, and though it wasn't  _quite_  right, it was still enough. It was basically the difference between warm water versus cool iced water - it wasn't as good as the latter, but it was still water that would have to suffice.

I dodged projectiles from the Earthborn and sliced at a centaur. I threw some Phlegethon at a Laistrygonian and somehow managed to use my trident to slice through wisps of smoke that must've been an eidolon or two. There wasn't a moment of rest, and while I would've loved to dive into the center of the pack and take out everything I could, I couldn't risk any of the monsters losing interest in me and heading for the Doors instead.

I tried not to focus too hard on the odds and the occasional pain that came from slip ups as I fought more monsters than ever before, all on my own, hoping to buy time for my friends.

* * *

Third Person: No. 1

No. 1 pushed the elevator doors open and slipped inside, her poodle sneaking through first before she snuck past Annabeth and jumped in.

"Go," Bob ordered. "I will hold the button."

Percy gawked at him. "Bob, you're in no condition-"

"Percy," Annabeth interrupted. Her voice threatened to break. She hated herself for letting Bob do this, but she knew it was the only way. "We have to."

"We can't just leave them!"

"You must, friend." Bob clapped Percy on the arm, nearly knocking him over. "I can still press a button. Percy's friend and Damasen will fight. And  _I_  have a good cat to guard me."

Small Bob the saber-toothed tiger growled in agreement.

"If big sister is successful, Bob and Damasen will join us on the surface soon enough," No. 1 volunteered, her voice meek as she and her poodle stood at the small opening between the elevator doors.

"Besides," Bob continued, "it is your destiny to return to the world. Put an end to this madness of Gaea."

A screaming Cyclopes, sizzling from poison spray, sailed over their heads. Fifty yards away, the Maeonian drakon trampled through monsters, its feet making sickening ' _squish squish_ ' noises as if stomping on grapes. On its back, Damasen yelled insults and jabbed at the god of the pit, taunting Tartarus farther away from the Doors. Tartarus lumbered after him, is iron boots making craters in the ground.

" _You cannot kill me!_ " He bellowed. " _I am the pit itself. You might as well try to kill the earth. Gaea and I - we are eternal. We_ own _you, flesh and spirit!_ "

"You are ephemeral compared to your parents," Damasen retorted calmly. "I once gained the favor of Chaos itself. Let us see how close to your destruction I can become. It will not be long before Chaos and Order are returned to their rightful place, and I have a guess as to who they will give their favor - and it will  _not_  be you, Father."

Tartarus brought down his massive fist, but Damasen side-stepped, impaling his javelin in the side of Tartarus's neck. Tartarus growled, apparently more annoyed than hurt. He turned his swirling vacuum face towards the giant, but Damasen got out of the way in time. A dozen monsters were sucked into the vortex and disintegrated.

Audrey, a good distance away from the drakon, Damasen, and Tartarus in the midst of the monster army attempting to reach the Doors, released a battle cry as she came soaring down on a Laistrygonian with both her sword and trident. She quickly launched from the Laistrygonian, not bothering to see if she'd slain it because a giant pool of the River Cocytus formed beneath her, causing the Laistrygonian as well as every monster close to it to start wailing in hopeless misery.

"Bob, don't!" Percy begged, his eyes pleading. "He'll destroy you permanently. No coming back. No regeneration."

Bob shrugged. "Who knows what will be? You must go now. Tartarus is right about one thing. We cannot defeat him. We can only buy you time. Even should Cee-Cee save Zyta right at this very moment, you must still leave. Tartarus cannot be destroyed, not without a loss of balance. Tartarus is where monsters are contained. If the Underworld is destroyed, the Overworld above it shall fall into Chaos - quite literally. Twelve minutes. I can give you that."

"Percy…hold the Doors," Annabeth commanded.

She jumped and threw her arms around the Titan's neck. She kissed his cheek, her eyes so full of tears, she couldn't see straight. Bob's stubbly face smelled of cleaning supplies - fresh lemony furniture polish and Murphy Oil wood soap.

"Monsters are eternal," She told him, trying to keep herself from sobbing. "We will remember you and Damasen as heroes, as the  _best_  Titan and the  _best_  giant. We'll tell our children. We'll keep the story alive. Someday, you  _will_  regenerate."

"Hopefully, we shall see you again," No. 1 said. "In person."

Bob ruffled her hair, smile lines crinkling around his eyes. "That is good. Until then, my friends, tell the sun and the stars hello for me. And be strong. This may not be the last sacrifice you must make to stop Gaea." He pushed her away gently. "No more time. Go."

Annabeth grabbed Percy's arm and she dragged him into the elevator car. She had one last glimpse of the Maeonian drakon shaking an ogre like a sock puppet, Damasen jabbing at Tartarus's legs.

The god of the pit pointed at the Doors of Death and yelled, " _Monsters, stop them!_ "

Small Bob the saber-tooth crouched and snarled, ready for action. Audrey let out a sonic scream, throwing her arms with her weapons tightly in her grip to the red sky. Three different rivers burst from the ground - one of which being the glowing red Phlegethon, and the monsters were forced back. Audrey looked as though she was going to pass out from the strain, but she leaned on her trident for a moment with her sword raised to defend herself in the meantime.

A part of No. 1 strained to run out and help. Another part of her froze her limbs and demanded she stay put in the elevator. Her Remnants were disagreeing, she realized. Within her, there were all different time periods from her life. Her innocence, her callous denial of feelings, her reluctant opening up to her feelings once more - her sympathetic and apathetic aspects were clashing. In the end, she moved to the Doors, but only to prepare to seal them closed for the ride up.

Bob winked at Annabeth. "Hold the Doors closed on your side. No. 1 will know what to do. They will resist your passage. Hold them-"

The panels slid shut. No. 1 felt the elevator activate as Bob pressed the button on the other side. At first, the Doors showed little resistance. But quickly, No. 1 found them slowly attempting to slide open. She pressed both her hands inwards with all she had, and she managed to keep the Doors closed for all of thirty seconds before the strain became too much for her to handle.

"Percy, help me!" Annabeth yelped.

She shoved her entire body against the left door, pressing it towards the center. Percy did the same on the right, and No. 1's poodle moved to help him at his feet. No. 1 herself helped Annabeth, the girl and her familiar sharing strength so that both could get their best grip on the Doors to be of use. There were no handles, or anything else to hold on to but even the stuffed animal was able to get enough of a grip to hold on. As the elevator car ascended, the Doors shook and tried to open, threatening to spill them into whatever was between life and death - Tartarus's most chaotic and endless void.

No. 1 felt her shoulders and legs ache - pain she hadn't ever been able to feel before. Even her Remnants in their deathless state never were bothered by their…well, their deathless states. No. 729 didn't feel any pain with her broken neck; she simply adjusted to having her vision sideways all the time. No. 1036 didn't feel the pain of every poison in existence, but she could  _use_  the nightmarish alchemic disaster to her leisure. No. 1 hadn't felt so human in a long time, and while it hurt, it was also exhilarating.

The elevator's easy-listening music wasn't helping. If all monsters had to hear that song about liking piña coladas and getting caught in the rain, no wonder they were in the mood for carnage when they reached the mortal world. No. 1 kept having this nagging feeling that going  _down_  in the elevator wasn't  _nearly_  this challenging, though she had no idea why she would know that unless she still had her connection to her big sister. At least that meant she was still alive.

"We let Bob and Damasen," Percy croaked. "They'll die for us, and we just-"

"I  _know_ ," Annabeth murmured. "Gods of Olympus, Percy, I know."

Annabeth was almost glad for the job of keeping the Doors closed. The terror racing through her heart at least kept her from dissolving into misery. Abandoning Damasen and Bob had been the hardest thing she'd ever done.

For years at Camp Half-Blood, she had chafed as other campers went on quests while she stayed behind. She'd watched as others gained glory…or failed and didn't come back. Since she was seven years old, she had thought, ' _Why don't_ I _get to prove my skills? Why can't_ I _lead a quest?_ ' Now she realized that the hardest test for a child of Athena wasn't leading a quest or facing death in combat. It was making the strategic decision to step back, to let someone else take the brunt of the danger - especially when that person was your friend. She had to face the fact that she couldn't protect everyone she loved. She couldn't solve every problem. She hated it, but she didn't have time for self-pity. She blinked away her tears, silently demanding that her friends succeeded and managed to save Damasen and Bob and Audrey and Emily - all of them - before it was too late.

"Percy, the Doors," Annabeth warned.

The panels had started to slide apart, letting in a whiff of…ozone? Sulfur?

"Do!" Oodles the poodle shouted and shoved on the Doors alongside Percy, who pushed on their side furiously. The crack closed.

Percy's eyes blazed with anger. Annabeth hoped he wasn't mad at her, but f he was, she couldn't blame him. If it keeps him going, she thought, then let him be angry.

"I will  _kill_  Gaea," He muttered. "I will tear her apart with my bare hands."

Annabeth nodded, but she was thinking about Tartarus's boast. He could not be killed; neither could Gaea. Against such power, even Titans and giants were hopelessly outmatched. Demigods stood no chance. All they could do was hope that their friends gained powers even greater than Tartarus and Gaea. And that they retained enough humanity to want to help in the process.

Bob's warning still rang through their minds: ' _This may not be the last sacrifice you must make to stop Gaea_.' Each of them felt that truth deep in their bones.

"Twelve minutes," Annabeth murmured. "Just twelve minutes."

She prayed to Athena that Bob could hold the  **UP**  button that long. She prayed her friends would be successful; she prayed Audrey would be able to hold out until they were. She prayed for strength and wisdom. She wondered what they would find once they reached the top of this elevator ride. If their friends weren't there, controlling the other side…

"We can do this," Percy said. "We  _have_  to."

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "Yeah, we do."

They held the Doors shut as the elevator shuddered and the music played, while somewhere down below them, a Titan, a giant, and a demigod sacrificed their lives for their escape.


	39. Is A Somber Morrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo…I'm really busy this year. Like REALLY busy. I'm sorry for the delays that are to come on all of my stories, even my Shadowhunters one. (Ha, here I am thinking people read and follow my stuff as religiously as I follow some of the other writers on this site and Fictionpress).
> 
> Brownie points for the people who know what the titles of these last two chapters are based on.
> 
> Enjoy my rambling and trying desperately to make drama but ultimately failing because I have no time, energy, or muse.
> 
> :)

First Person: Rei

There was no such thing as direction.

I only felt Emily's hand grasping mine as we fell through a void without an up or down or left or right. I wasn't sure if I still had a body, I just knew that I was holding onto Emily somehow and we were tumbling through the darkness.

I tried to take a deep breath, but there seemed to be no air to breathe and no lungs to breathe  _with_. I just tried to calm as much as I could. If this was some kind of spiritual world, I needed to take control of my mind and spirit. It was like in battle where I needed to activate a sort of meditative state to focus on the fight and nothing else that was on my mind. I needed to focus my chakras, meditate. The chaos around me was held back by a protective bubble; my mind was my own and I was retreating into myself where I was strongest.

The falling sensation began to fade away. I realized I was lying somewhere, that I wasn't falling at all, and that I could feel my body again. I carefully cracked my eyes open, but it was hard. It was like a dream, where I couldn't feel anything, but I knew what I needed to do. In my dreams, it could often become hard to keep my eyes open, like they were constantly drooping and I had to force them open. My eyes felt crusted closed like I was waking up in the morning, and slowly my senses began to return to me.

I was sitting at the edge of some kind of forest that went in both directions off into the horizon.

"Emily?" I called.

"Over here!"

I sighed in relief. She was just a few feet deeper into the forest than I was. She seemed to be looking around for something specific. I was relieved when I was actually able to reach Emily and fate didn't have some scheme up her sleeve to separate the two of us. Yet. After all, in a realm like this, the rules of logic probably didn't always apply, and if someone could control this place, we'd be sitting ducks with little to no defense.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I know where we need to go. I have to guide you to where the Primordials are located."

"And what about Veon?"

The concerned look on her face didn't inspire confidence. "We'll find him when we find the Primordials. First, we have to convince them not to end the world."

"Oh, yeah, nothing special or anything."

She smiled. "It's always been your destiny to save them. You've got this."

"I'm not so sure. Not anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I once thought that I should be able to handle the powers of both of the Primordials all on my own. I once thought that I didn't need a partner, that I was okay all alone. After meeting the true power of the Primordials, seeing them in perspective and the true scale of their power…I'm just not that sure anymore. About anything. About what I'm capable of, about what I'm supposed to do, about what happens if we're successful. The end of the world is one thing, something hard to comprehend since…well, we won't really be there to be sad about the end of the world. The Primordials will probably just start over anyway. I just…I feel like we haven't been told everything. When Zyanya was in my head, back when all of this started, I felt like I knew everything, that the plan was simple and everything would work itself out if I just followed the plan. Now that we're here, I don't know what the plan is anymore."

"Well, we're here and our goal is the Primordials and keeping everyone alive. Just take a deep breath and narrow down your focus. Don't think about the future, think about right now. Think about everyone else that we're fighting for and who are fighting for  _us_. They're giving us this chance, and maybe we've failed and restarted a million times, but right now, this is the time that we're going to win, right?"

I took a few deep breaths through my nose. This place didn't have any smell - no outdoorsy scent of the forest and nature. But it  _did_  have what seemed to be fresh air, clear and blank, but cool and fresh. Like a videogame where you can restart new games and the excuse is that every time the character's memories have been erased. Like FFXIII Lightning Returns. All we'll ever be aware of is the time that we're successful.

"We'll have to believe that we win this time," I agreed.

She smiled and nodded. I wondered how she could possibly smile so genuinely at a stressful time like this. She began to lead me through the forest. We clasped hands just in case this place attempted to separate us again. Considering how when the entrance to the forest disappeared everything seemed to be repeating itself, I worried that there was no way out. I hated being in places like this where the world could turn against you. I had been in forests before, I'd learned to navigate through survival skills, but this forest was just so…wrong. I couldn't hear any sign of life - no animals or insects chittering away, no streams of water, no humidity, no smells or sunlight (this place just appeared to be artificially lit somehow). It's like this forest was made of plastic - which brought back bad memories of the Ward. They put us in all sorts of fake locations for training practice.

"Hey, stay with me," Emily urged.

I realized she must sense my discomfort. Even if all of my senses were dulled in this place (and I assumed the same was for her), touching through our held hands made it so that I couldn't hide my feelings from her if I tried. It would be strangely romantic if we were like that. Then again, a girl who Hestia had secretly created and Aphrodite adopted with the power of emotion and healing had that kind of aura anyway.

"Let's talk about something," Emily suggested. "Something to keep your mind distracted."

"Like what?"

"Like…like me. I'm a daughter of Hestia. How'd that happen? Did Zyanya ever tell you?"

"Oh, yes, she did. Your dad volunteers at a lot of charity events, he's a psychologist and stuff who helps children, he works at an animal shelter, and he's basically the biggest fluff ball in existence, right? So a couple decades ago he finds a demigod and a monster - I'm not sure what it was, but I think it was similar to those katobleps in the sense that they're harmless to humans and demigods, but if you provoke them, they're deadly as all get out. Both the demigod and the monster have been beaten up pretty badly, to the point that both of them are exhausted, bleeding out, all that, and then your dad shows up.

"Because of the Mist, he can't see the monster as a monster; as far as he was concerned, it was an injured animal. So, being the kind goofball that he was, he took them both to safety - the demigod to a hospital, the monster to his vet clinic. The demigod obviously fled the moment they woke up since being in a human hospital was dangerous, but when your dad found out, he dedicated himself to finding the demigod and getting them help. So he did, and he managed to track them down within a day or so and honored their wish not to be taken to a hospital. Your dad brought a first-aid kit and helped patch up the demigod before taking the demigod to Camp Half-Blood and promising not to ask too many questions because the man was just that trusting.

"On top of that, he went to the vet every day and personally oversaw the monster's recovery. During said recovery, the monster started to get attached to him and he managed to befriend it. I'm told it followed him around like a puppy who'd mistaken him for its mother. Anyway, just like the empousai are servants of Hecate, this monster had a patron god that took notice when your dad helped it out. On top of that, the demigod that your dad helped prayed to the gods to give the man a blessing for his kindness, and so your dad got on the radar. Not of any of the big guys since Zeus and Poseidon and even Hades all have better things to do and since he didn't save anyone or help anything directly related to them, they pretty much brushed it aside.

"But as we know, Hestia's always been a more reclusive goddess who watches from the shadows and appreciates the underdogs. Like Nico; he's a good kid, but as a son of Hades, he often feels detached from other demigods. Still, that doesn't mean he doesn't have a strong will and a big heart underneath his cold façade. He was the first one to notice Hestia at Camp Half-Blood after many years. So Hestia went down to investigate your father in lieu of any other volunteers. After all, a man who was kind? That was Hestia all over.

"So she goes down in disguise and volunteers at the animal shelter with your dad. She makes friends with him, she follows him around and gets to know him better, and though their relationship wasn't love - Hestia being sworn off men and all - they made that very clear and still remained friends. Like, a guy that hears a girl isn't romantically interested in him and still wants to be her friend without pursuing anything more? He was like a male Hestia! Anyway, Hestia seemed to agree, so after spending a few years getting to know him - nothing in comparison to the life of a goddess, but more than enough to make Hestia's century - she created you."

"But I thought she couldn't have children."

"No, but Athena can't have children either, and yet she still has enough children that Annabeth exists with a bunch of siblings. You know how Annabeth was born, right?"

"The same way Athena was born. Athena popped out of Zeus's head."

"Daughter of Zeus and his first wife - Metis - who helped Zeus take down Kronos by creating a potion - or poison, if you prefer - that made him spit up all of Zeus's siblings. And Athena was supposed to have a younger brother that would overthrow Zeus. Huh, we should probably remind the Primordials of that so we can get onto that someday. Anyway, yes, Athena popped out of Zeus's head because Zeus, fearing Athena's younger brother being born, attempted to absorb Metis into him - which is a whole  _other_  discussion that we're not getting into - and eventually he got a headache and Athena pops out of his forehead. Athena bears children in a similar way, popping them out from her forehead. Or maybe it's not really limited to the forehead, but we all assume it's the forehead because of how Athena herself was born. Basically, the gods can make children without actual sex. I'm a mind-child too. My mother created me based off of a human woman that she possessed since making a human from scratch was too hard for her and so I'm the spitting image of the host my mother took over. You are a mind-child of Hestia. Not sure if you popped from her forehead, but she created you entirely on her own with a few traits specifically made to match your dad so that he looks like you and bam! You exist.

"Hestia said that she had to go away since gods can't stay around when demigods are created. Gods are recommended not to interfere with human lives, but it's not forbidden - and considering the amount of demigods out there, that's not a surprise. But with demigods, the gods are not allowed to interfere except when it is expressly approved by higher powers since it's prophesied or something. Your dad was super understanding, but since Hestia couldn't directly say she was a goddess, she had trouble finding an excuse as to why she was leaving a daughter. In the end, your dad didn't ask questions. Hestia naturally didn't like to lie, but lying to a sweetheart like your dad was never gonna happen, so her stuttering and attempts and failures at explaining led him to believe it was something unspeakable that she was embarrassed to admit to her best friend. So he took you in and loved you dearly. And here we are!

"You were born with the prophecies of where we are now in mind - invincibility because your physical body must be protected when your true power lies within the mind and heart. Meanwhile Audrey was born with her water-morphing ability and her amazing control over water because her physical strength and offensive fighting techniques are meant to be superior. You fight with more sneaky methods with internal battles, she fights with more direct external battles. That isn't to say you both can't use strategy, but you are fire and water, opposites that compliment each other's power make up the things that we can't have once we're Primordials."

"What's that?"

"Humanity. You both need to keep us human. Or at least, that's what I  _think_  the plan is. Considering how much we've misinterpreted, I'm not sure if that's how it's truly meant to work. Sometimes the gods tell you something in order to make sure the true path of fate comes true. When a king is told he shall be killed by his son, he will do the terrible things that makes his son his enemy in the first place. I wanna see  _one_  king that just raises the child destined to kill him like a decent man and see what happens."

She giggled. "Well, that's too logical for Greco-Roman mythology, are you kidding me?"

I smiled. "Yeah. Way too logical."

I realized how long I'd been talking when I saw that the forest around us had changed, slowly but surely. The trees became older and less vibrant; the roots of the trees had morphed into something resembling more like thorns; the air had gotten heavier and the light that seemed to have come from nowhere had darkened. Where the sky might've once been white, now it was darkened to resemble Tartarus - red or black, or red  _and_  black. The trees had begun to lose their leaves, some trees completely bare, others still donning dying autumn leaves. We passed a waterhole, but the water was dyed completely red. The entire area seemed to leave me with a sense of unease. Where the other forest had been scary because of its blankness, this one was just eerie like Tartarus.

"It's like we're going from Gaea to Tartarus," Emily noted, reading my mind.

"From the Overworld to the Underworld, but on another level that humanity normally doesn't get to see. We're walking on a godly plane. It's a mostly symbolic representation, that's why this place isn't quite…right. And at the center of it all should be the source - the origin point of this universe, Chaos."

"What about Order?"

"Order  _is_  Chaos. They were born from the same source when all this began. You could say that they're two halves of the same coin. It seems that Order split off from Chaos naturally, they  _needed_  to be split for this universe to work out. Chaos can't govern everything by himself - at least not the original Chaos. It's kinda complicated, but the Primordials don't have single identities. They  _are_  everything, and by extension, they can have multiple personalities that are still… _them_. It's like how a soul can be reborn and could be a whole new person with a  _completely_  different personality, but in the end, it was made from the same soul.

"Legends say that Chaos fell asleep when the gods right beneath him began to take over - including Gaea and Tartarus, and sometimes Eros and Night. But that was just the larger aspects of Chaos. A smaller part of his consciousness became the Chaos capable of taking hosts. We're not containing the full power of the Primordials; we're taking small,  _small_  pieces of their minds. Even  _that_  can be dangerously powerful. Tartarus couldn't and still  _can't_  overpower Chaos or Order, but what he  _could_  do was capture their conscious minds and force them into slumber, preventing them from connecting to the rest of their power and from interacting with the world. The only way to interact with something as delicate as the human world without blowing it up is to have a specific part of their power that resembles a soul to put within a host that can properly contain them. We need to look for that piece of each of them contained in…in wherever this is."

"Well, as we get closer, their power seems to become stronger. But it's also…really distorted. I guess you could call it distress, discord, but also…defeat. Fatigue."

"Sounds about right. We'd better hurry through, then. After all, they  _did_  activate the end of the world."

We made our way through the forest, which turned into more of a swamp. The area around us seemed to dim further and further the deeper we ventured - as though the darkness was closing in and we were within a spotlight that followed us around. Kinda like A Dying World 700 AF from FF13-2. The trees seemed to become more and more densely packed, making it more difficult to climb past roots and thorns and branches while still staying connected.

"How much farther, you think?" I asked.

"We're really close. Problem is, since we're  _so_  close, it's kinda hard to tell which way we're going. We're pretty much at the epicenter right now, the power I was tracking is all around us. It's just a  _bit_  thicker in this direction, but even the core of the beacon we're following could be too big for us to pinpoint an exact location."

"Great. So in a forest like this, all we can do is wander around in circles. That's not foreboding at  _all_."

"We're sure to make it if we focus on where we need to be."

I steadied myself as best I could, trying to ignore the shaking in my hands and the knot in my stomach. Something was just wrong here. It was kinda like an existential crisis about how the end of the world was right in front of me, that it was  _surrounding_  me. I suppose it technically was.

"This place isn't a forest," I thought aloud.

"Well I wouldn't think so."

"No, I mean that we're in a realm that's un-comprehendible by our human minds. It's shaping itself into the closest equivalent that we'd understand without dying because of it: a forest, dark and easy to lose yourself in. Maybe the reason we're having more trouble finding our goal is because we haven't considered what our goal even  _looks_  like."

"So what do you imagine our goal looks like?"

"The Primordials always looked like me and Veon, so I guess I assumed they'd be standing there waiting for us. But I also assumed we'd have some kind of trouble finding them. You know, like Temple of the Ancients levels of a maze."

Emily paused, looking up ahead of us, and I saw that a giant black pyramid structure had formed in the dark forest.

"Oh."

"At least we now have a visual of where our goal is," Emily said, staying positive.

"Yeah…right."

"You remember the Temple of the Ancients that you were thinking of, right?"

"Yeah, but in the game, the camera and the character have different perspectives and there were little weird mage creatures to follow through the maze."

"Will it and it shall be so, isn't that how it now works? You  _are_  connected to the Primordials, so maybe this realm gives you control."

I sighed. "I hope we can find Veon in there too."

We walked towards the temple and pushed through the trees to find a large bridge leading up to the entrance. We headed across. Luckily this wasn't Nibelheim where the bridge collapses. We climbed up the stairs and entered the temple, finding a simple old temple room with the altar that would lead inside. We didn't have a Keystone, but I had a feeling we didn't need it.

"You know, when you enter the Temple of the Ancients, there's no going back."

"I don't think we really  _need_  to go back, do we?"

"Nope. Just warning you."

I pressed by hand to the altar and heard a click. Then, the two of us began to sink into the floor as though there was an invisible elevator. I closed my eyes as my head went under, keeping a grip on Emily's hand. When we emerged again, we were standing in the large MC Escher maze that was from the original game. It looked a lot bigger in person.

"So…where's that guide?" Emily asked.

I looked up and down the maze. I realized that since we weren't limited to video-game logic, we could just hop down and climb up wherever we could reach - no invisible barriers forcing us to use the stairs. I saw a light flickering underneath an archway in the distance, nothing that we couldn't reach with a little ingenuity.

"Don't need a guide, but we're gonna have to do some climbing."

* * *

 

We finally climbed up to the archway that I had seen, which led into a stone wall that definitely shouldn't have led to a darkened corridor like it did. On either side of us was pitch blackness, and I realized it wasn't because the corridor was dark. It was because there were infinite chasms on either side of us, with no railings and a single path that was just enough room for us to walk single file. We kept our hands clasped as we made our way forward, only to find a wall blocking the path. We could take the risk trying to climb around it, but…

"There's a message." I ran my hands over the stone. The lightning was dim and the concave letters were hard to read when they were the same texture as the rest of the rock. "Just keep running."

"Did someone leave that for us?" Emily wondered.

"There's an engraving of the corridor. Looks like we're gonna have to make a right and then keep away from the walls and just sprint to the end." I sighed. "Foreboding is the word of the day. Get ready."

I slipped my hand onto a handle that would dispel the wall and pulled. The wall dissolved into nothing but dust particles in the air, but from behind it, a heavy wind blew a cloud of black smoke at us. The wind was made of screams. I clamped a hand over my one ear and shifted my head so that I could use my shoulder to cover the other ear, but it didn't help. The screams and wails of despair and pain seemed to be piercing straight through my mind.

"Go!" Emily shouted, though her voice sounded far away.

I was still gripping her hand, but I started forward. The wind opposed our movement, and as we made a right turn, it followed so that it was still pushing against our path. The infinite chasm was now right behind us and we'd be swept into it if we lost our footing. There were walls like the engraving had warned, walls that seemed to narrow the corridor beyond what we could fit through. And we had to avoid touching them and fight this wind at the same time.

A feeling of despair overtook me, and I felt a squeezing depression that made me want to cry.

' _I have nothing left to lose._ '  
' _Allow me to do this in the name of my people._ '  
' _I'm not doing this for you; I'm doing this for the fallen whom I failed to save._ '  
' _I don't care, just SAVE THEM!_ '  
' _I won't lose myself. I won't._ '  
' _This was all a game to you, wasn't it?_ '  
' _I'm just some sacrifice? Is that how it was always meant to be?_ '  
' _Did you know?_ '  
' _No! I concede! Stop it!_ '  
' _For you, a thousand times over_.'  
' _I'll do it, okay? I said I would, so I will_.'  
' _Please! Just make it stop!_ '

"Run!" Emily shouted. I could barely hear her over the winds, the wailing, and the voices surging through my head.

I ran forward, barely able to see through the black smog blowing into my eyes. With each step, I felt like I was beginning to weigh more and more. As we ran down the corridor, the walls began to shift, and I realized that something was wiggling beneath the surface. I soon learned that it was hands. The walls grew black hands of smoke that reached out blindly for us, fingers wiggling, elbows bending with no sense of direction. Each time one brushed against me, I felt a wave of anxiety and pain that seemed to burst a water balloon inside me and made me want to cry.

Submission. These were the thoughts of those who had found themselves defeated. These were the moments that people realized they had been beaten and gave in. The horrors that pushed each person to the brink, for better or for worse, were painful to say the least. Sometimes the people ended up stronger because they were pushed to stop fighting positive influences and embrace them. Other times,  _most_  of the time, the defeat was heart-breaking, soul-shattering, and often the result was irreversible damage to one's mind and soul.

I felt my body want to give out from the pain. Lightning of 13-3 once said that the sound of true despair was silence. The words I were hearing, they were the final lines of people before they were silent, before they stopped. Each time I was brushed with the weight of a hopeless situation, I felt a jolt run through my body that made me want to lay down and accept my fate like the voices - I was feeling what they felt. It was layer upon layer of a numbing depression that seized my limbs and pulled them to the ground.

"Just keep running!" Emily screamed. "We'll make it! We're almost there!"

Despite her words, I could hear her voice cracking. I couldn't see her, but I had a feeling she was feeling the punches in the gut that I was too, that she was on the verge of tears. The fatigue made it too tiring to even cry properly. Then again, she was doing better than me. I wasn't even sure how she found her voice at all. I knew that if I opened my mouth, all that would come out is a sob. I couldn't string together my thoughts.

' _Please…just…make the pain stop._ '  
' _Don't hurt him, I'll do whatever you want!_ '  
' _No, please…she's innocent! She's INNOCENT!_ '  
' _She's just a child. Don't_.'  
' _I'm sorry! I couldn't…_ '  
' _He's no threat to you anymore! Let him go! I'm right here! Look at me! I'll make a deal!_ '

"Just keep running, just keep running, just keep running,  _just keep running!_ "

' _Onesan please!_ '

"Kaze?"

' _PLEASE!_ '

"Kaze!"

One of the arms from the wall grabbed me and pulled me to a halt. I was sucked into a vision as I saw my younger self looking down brandishing a knife and aiming it straight for my eye. I didn't know what she was doing, but she wasn't listening. I had been beaten, I couldn't win. Whatever she was doing was taking place and I couldn't stop it. She was gone. I'd lost her. I didn't want to live in a world where I'd lost her.

"Lucy, wake up!"

I was ripped out of the vision, my chest aching like I'd been physically punched and all the wind had been knocked out of my system. I heaved deep breaths, feeling a sting from every gasp. My body was trembling even harder than before, to the point that I didn't think I could move without toppling over and I'd never be able to get back up. We were still being bombarded by the wailing wind, but Emily grasped my arm and pulled me forward, swatting the black hands away and somehow managing to dispel them with her powers. Her touch stabilized me enough to not completely collapse when I was pulled into a sprint once more. I ran forward blindly, knowing that the moment I stopped, I wouldn't be able to get going again.

"How long  _is_  this stupid corridor?!" Emily hissed.

I realized she'd lied when she'd said we were close to the end. This hallway seemed endless. All the way as far as we could see forward was just blackness. I didn't think we'd be able to survive much longer at this rate.

"Just keep running…"

She had really taken those words to heart. It somehow gave her hope in this land of despair, don't ask me how.

This place was worse than swimming in Cocytus or trekking deeper and deeper into Tartarus. Back in those situations, the voices and feelings surging through you were trying their best to make you give in. These feelings that were assaulting us now weren't the feelings of lamentation or dark thoughts to destroy your resolve. This was a breaking of countless resolves, hitting us like trucks over and over and over with no time to breathe in between. We were hitting the tipping point over and over, falling over the precipice of oblivion. All of these resolves had already been broken, and the only difference between them and us is that we hadn't been here as long.

I pushed myself to keep running, trying not to focus on the act itself and instead thinking about how long it would be until we were reduced to the wind of sorrow and wailing along with the countless souls still trapped here.

' _I love you, but I want power more than I want love_.'  
' _There is no redemption for me. I might as well accept that._ '  
' _I won't survive this, will I? But he will. At least my son will survive. Goodbye. Hades, please look after him._ '

I tried to recognize who that final voice belonged to. In wracking my brain, I at least managed to keep the other voices at bay a little longer. When the corridor finally changed from an endless path of grabby hands of doom, it was only to show us a side room that seemed to have an even denser supply of the wailing black fog. We would've passed by it entirely if I hadn't finally remembered where I'd heard that last voice.

"Veon's mother. It was Veon's mother!"

"What was?!" Emily shouted.

"She shouldn't be here! The only way her voice could be here is if-"

" _Let me go! Just please make them stop! Shut up, shut up, shut UP!_ "

"Veon!"

I dived from the corridor into the side room, breaking contact with Emily as I pushed through the pain of the thick swarm of negative breaking points hitting me all at once. It was like jumping into a giant hamster ball of nails piercing me from every angle; it was like getting punched on every inch of my body simultaneously and repeatedly.

"Veon!  _Veon!_ "

I knew he was in here. I knew he was in the epicenter of this nightmare. All I needed to do was reach him. I didn't have a plan after that. Maybe I would give up. Maybe that would be the end of the line. Just so long as I reach him.

As if the despairing souls sensed that my lack of a plan meant I was joining their ranks, the pressure on me started to weaken and the chaos in my mind and heart dulled down enough that I could focus. I hadn't been able to see. I hadn't even realized it, I hadn't even cared. Now, I could. I could see a humanoid form trapped beneath clouds of black smoke hands that were holding him down. Every inch of him was being restrained by the painful moments of submission. He himself was leaking the black smoke. He had no true form, he was already turning into one of these things. Somehow, he had still managed to retain his sanity, and himself.

I pushed into the dense mass of darkness for him. He was the only one I needed to feel, he was the only one I  _would_  feel.

I was repelled as the winds kicked up stronger the closer I got. They were sensing their error - I hadn't given in yet. No. In fact, they had given me my will to fight again. And they realized their mistake a moment too late. The thing about a breaking point, it wasn't always destructive. Sometimes one's breaking point would make them invincible, it would give them more strength than ever, and defeat was out of the question. That was what my mother was. This place was her opposite.

Deciding I'd think about the ramifications of that later, I reached out and pushed through to grab Veon's shoulder. It wasn't the best place to grip him, especially since touching him hadn't canceled out the wind trying to repel me, but at least I could get a grip at all. I reached out, trying to feel for his head and then pushed my hand through his body to reach out for his heart. My hand somehow went through despite having a solid grip on him, and I finally closed my hand around something.

I tugged on it as hard as I could, and it finally pulled free. All at once, the winds stopped repelling me and Veon's form disappeared.

"This way!"

Emily suddenly grabbed my hand as the circular room with the myriad of black hands began to close in on us. The way we'd come had been blocked off by a brick wall, but Emily charged right at it, thrusting her hand out and crashing through, pulling me along beside her. For a moment, I couldn't breathe.

I was pulled underwater and instantly panicked. I hated water. I feared it more than anything else. Ward X had used it as a main method of torture because electricity and water didn't mix and water disrupted powers of sunlight. I couldn't tell which way was up, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't swim in any direction because the void seemed infinite.

Then, a hand grabbed my wrist and I was pulled through the water. An eternity later, I felt myself breaking the surface and I felt some kind of sandy beach beneath me. I coughed water and despair from my lungs, crawling further up the beach to get as far away from the water as I could manage. Once the water wasn't helping me stay afloat, all it did was drag my already weakened body down. I collapsed with my feet still being submerged when the tide came up, but at least I was alive.

When I finally mustered the strength to open my eyes, I was looking up at a gray sky. It took me a few minutes, but I managed to turn my head to the right and look along the beach. Emily was passed out beside me, but she was breathing. I looked to my left after a few more minutes. My left hand was still clenched around whatever I'd grabbed from Veon's shadow body, but now that I actually looked, I realized I was holding his hand.

He was facing towards me, his black hair plastered to his pale face like he had been drenched in the sea as well. I couldn't tell if he was breathing, but I could feel his pulse through his hand. Every part of my body was sore and exhausted and still tingling with surges of despair. I decided a break was in order. I managed to drag my hand over and grasp at Emily's hand so that we were connected and didn't lose each other in this crazy world. I closed my eyes, but I couldn't tell if I had fallen asleep. I felt so tired that I couldn't fall asleep, but I  _might_  have fallen asleep. My senses were so dull that I honestly couldn't tell what was real and what was fake.

I let myself fall somewhat asleep to the sound of the waves and the pulse of my friends' heartbeats in my palms.

* * *

 

First Person: Audrey

The fight was going well until it wasn't. In all honesty, we lasted longer than I thought we would.

My exhaustion was reaching its peak, and the monsters could tell. There was longer hesitation between my attacks and a far longer reaction time than when I'd started. I had tried to count the minutes, but I quickly gave up on doing that while fighting countless monsters all at once. I could barely keep track of the minutes when I was doing exercises in gym, nevermind when I actually needed to focus on my actions and react to monsters trying to kill me from all sides.

Damasen and the Maeonian drakon had held on against Tartarus a long time. I knew that the giants were children of Tartarus, but it was really hard to tell the power balance when it came to a giant facing Tartarus. Right now, Tartarus looked human, and Damasen hadn't instantly been defeated. Considering how the guy had fought the Maeonian drakon for countless years and got to the point where he could slay it within seconds of an encounter, I wouldn't have guessed that it'd be able to stand up against Tartarus. Now, against a swarm of monsters? It was almost laughable.

While the Maeonian drakon and Damasen kept Tartarus's attention and pulled him further from the Doors, it also meant that the drakon could only take down troops near the side and back of the monster army - as Damasen was riding the Maeonian drakon in order to keep it in control, or as 'in control' it could be when the goal was to wipe out every monster that came near. Many of the monsters wisely went around the path of the drakon, but that wasn't a guarantee they were saved from its wrath.

My power over the five rivers had already been strained near the beginning, but now I lost access to any control I had at all. Even tugging at the rivers to move them just a little and you might as well ask me to move a fridge all on my own by pulling it along behind me with a rope. My muscles burned and ached, I could feel my heartbeat in my head and hands which gripped my weapons tightly. I had a feeling that my hands were stuck that way, in a death grip around my weapons, knowing that losing even one of them meant I wouldn't be able to hang on any longer. The moment I stopped, the adrenaline wouldn't be enough to sustain me and I'd collapse. Who knows? Maybe I'd pull a Lu and start rhyming deliriously.

I looked over at Bob when I had the chance, and his saber-tooth was working to protect him against anything that got past me - which was steadily becoming more and more monsters. I was slow, and some took the opportunity to run past, while others wanted to challenge me to deal the finishing blow.

I stabbed my sword into an Earthborn and then swept out my sword to defend against a Laistrygonian, hoping to get in an attack and disorient it before I moved out of the way of an attack and plan my next move. There wasn't much real planning in my strategy, mostly just improv the whole way. I struck as hard as I could with my left hand holding my sword, but something happened that shattered the blade - too fast for me to comprehend. I didn't have the time to contemplate what happened, but the broken sword had snapped about an inch or two from the hilt, the rest of the blade flying into the Laistrygonian's eye. I jumped up and used my forearm to shove the blade deeper into its face, stabbing right through its brain and turning it to dust.

I decided the jagged broken edge of my sword was better than nothing, so I abandoned the blade and continued the fight. My trident appeared to be more resilient and didn't break as easily, which helped me continue the fight a little better.

It was only a matter of time before I was struck hard on my right upper arm. I'd taken plenty of nicks already, and I was pretty sure the blood loss was another reason for my fatigue, but the pain had been pretty numb up until that point. Though I was still running on adrenaline, I knew that I had lost my ability to use my right arm without a zing of stabbing pain. Though my forearm was still fine, I couldn't flex my fingers without feeling it in my upper arm. My grip on my trident was gone.

I abandoned my broken sword and snatched up my trident with my other hand, warding off a gryphon and stabbing it through the head with all I had. I was forced to retreat. I hoped that I had bought enough time.

By the time I reached the Doors, Small Bob the saber-tooth had taken over the defensive fight. The earth (could the ground in Tartarus be called 'Earth?') shook as Tartarus and Damasen got into an all out brawl. Similar to Bob, Damasen had found some kind of immunity to Tartarus's vortex power, so being too close to the god wasn't a problem. He was pretty much wrestling the equivalent of a bear in terms of Tartarus being stronger than him, but that didn't mean he was weak by any means. He wasn't a war-like giant, but he knew how to fight that Maeonian drakon - the beast that was currently slaughtering its way through the monster army with much more efficiency than I could ever manage. All we could do was hope that it was enough.

"Bob, how much longer?" I asked.

I hadn't realized how much my throat hurt from my heavy breathing of the poisonous air.

"Forty seconds remaining, my friend. Of course, we must hope that someone is there to press the button on the other side."

"We left a Remnant up there, but then again, the Doors are supposed to be guarded from us getting our way. Letting someone down  _into_  Tartarus is one thing, but letting them come back up is a problem. Hopefully Hazel and the others are there to fulfill their destinies and such."

I felt like I had been fighting a lot longer than eleven minutes, but I was just glad that I'd made it as far as I had.

Small Bob was holding the line since the monster army had been reduced greatly with the Maeonian drakon's help. I had to swing my trident a couple times to strike down some monsters that made it past Small Bob - after all, the saber-tooth was small in comparison to the sheer wave of creatures descending upon us - but I began to feel safe that we could make it the last thirty seconds. Gym class hadn't taught me many things, but thanks to Lucy's suggestion, we had practiced playing games against each other left-handed. We absolutely sucked, but we got some practice in to at least be somewhat competent at tennis, badminton, free-throwing basketballs, and we could at least hit a thrown softball with a bat left-handed. We'd worked a little on fighting left-handed, but we rarely used it in actual combat because when your life is on the line, it isn't really a proper time to be experimenting. Now that I was actually forced into using my left hand, I was glad for the little practice that I had managed from before.

I was taking more hits, more cuts and bruises, but no bones had been hit hard enough that I suspected they were broken. I pulled on the Phlegethon one final time, ripping a large river across the battlefield to give us the final seconds we needed. I tasted blood as my nose leaked a trail of red as if to mimic the fiery river. Projectiles were thrown by Earthborn over the river, and all I could do was dodge to the best of my ability, jostling my injured arm, increasing my pain and summoning the dark tunnel vision of doom. I held my forearm across my stomach and gripped my shirt in an attempt to keep the rest of my right arm still. Spots danced across my eyes, my vision started to do that tunneling thing that said I was on the verge of passing out, and my limbs were so shaky that I wasn't sure if I could keep pushing myself to move any further.

I dragged my way over to Bob finally and collapsed beside him, leaning against the Doors as I saw Small Bob taking on the monster army who were surging forward in the final moments. Tartarus was urging them to stop us, but then the Doors behind me shuddered and I heard the cheerful chime before they faded away and disappeared.

"Bob?" I asked.

He nodded, his kind eyes so warm despite the desperate situation we were in. The others had made it, and that was all that mattered to him, it was all that mattered to any of us. All we could do now was hope for a miracle to save us, hope that Lu and Emily were making it to the realm of the Primordials and working out a deal to not end the world and all.

" _Wretched fools! Worthless creatures! Your end is now!_ "

Tartarus swung out his arm and Damasen was hit, knocked off the Maeonian drakon, who rampaged and went berserk even more than before now that Damasen was no longer holding it back. If there was any monster that was out of the drakon's range, now they weren't. The drakon actually sent most of the remaining army running for the hills, which didn't make Tartarus too happy. He lashed out at the remaining monster army, and pulling his hand into a fist, the ground that was also Tartarus began to bubble and boil, shooting out geysers of black smoke and…well, it wasn't water, but it acted like it. Anything it touched instantly dissolved and evaporated and was absorbed back into the ground - probably joining Tartarus's infinitely suffering souls and whatnot. The entire area was blanketed by the inescapable destruction mist, and judging by the screams, it was far from a kind process.

The Maeonian drakon put up a good fight and managed not to be instantly dissolved, but in return its dissolving process was even worse, slow and painful. It had no defenses, no way to resist, and within a few extra seconds, it too was gone. Tartarus, meanwhile, attacked Damasen while he was down, and without the Maeonian drakon, his balance in the battle was knocked off course. We all knew Tartarus could just kill him instantly should he be so inclined, but he wanted to make this death personal.

We could only watch as Damasen was slowly driven back, little more than a punching bag compared to his father. There were moments when I had hope. Damasen was a child of Tartarus and therefore comparable to his strength even if he couldn't surpass the literal Pit itself. He didn't instantly disintegrate, he managed to get in physical punches on the deity and was far more agile than his size would lead you to assume. Giants were large, but that didn't mean that they were slow by any means. They were built with bodies strong enough to handle their large weights, and despite being in an unfavorable environment, Damasen was putting up a decent fight.

Then again, Tartarus was less experienced with his body, but he was learning. He started mostly with his powers, relying on his disintegration mist to attempt to consume Damasen like the other monsters. But Damasen was stronger than the Maeonian drakon - he had fought the creature every day for who knows how long and had gotten to the point where he could slay it within seconds of their encounters. Above that, he had come to create his own destiny, no longer a slave to his genes or his curse. It was that bit of humanity that he and Bob had been given that made them special, made them above Tartarus's simple tricks.

So then Tartarus began the physical fighting. Punching wasn't a hard thing to figure out, but mastering a proper technique and knowing where to aim was something that you learned. While YouTube or just the internet in general was a great way to learn to fight, Tartarus probably had no wifi down here anyway, so he just had to learn the old-fashioned way. Damasen had the upper hand that he already knew hand-to-hand combat, but Tartarus was a fast learner. In little time, Damasen was taking more hits than he was giving and the giant was driven back. Giant or not, Damasen wasn't a fighter-style giant and nor did he have much chance at beating Tartarus alone.

When Damasen was lost, I had to close my eyes and cover my ears to prevent the image and the screams from being seared into my mind. Small Bob was next. The saber-tooth was weaker than the Maeonian drakon in terms of a battle partner, but it was loyal and brave in the face of doom. It was sawt down like a fly and absorbed into the nightmare that was Tartarus. Bob pushed me out of the way but was unable to sidestep himself.

I could barely move anymore. We'd saved Percy and Annabeth, the Doors were free, Lu and Emily had managed to reach whatever spirit world they needed to be in. Despite having done everything we needed to do, it still felt like we'd lost when Bob's entire being was ripped apart by a god wearing Veon's face.

When the god finally came at me, there was nothing I could do but aim my trident forward and brace myself for the coming destruction of my body and soul.


	40. Itineris Finis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry, but Hazel's battle was just so boring to write that I delayed for a long time and I was and am so busy and I'm going to be even busier because haha we're going to be doing Into The Woods as our musical. The script is literally the size of a phonebook. Long hours, so much work, taxing my mental stability, etc. I'm going to try and finish out this book as soon as possible, hopefully by the end of 2019. The final battles aren't really what I wanted of them, but I rejigged my plans and have a bit of a clearer path to the end. Just gotta like, go read through my stories and make a list of the stuff I still need to resolve.
> 
> Enjoy :)

First Person: Rei

I woke to the scream of " _BOB!_ "

I jolted out of a dreamless sleep and found that I was lying on a beach. All of my senses felt slightly dulled, but I wasn't in a dream, I was sure of that. Then again, that's what I've thought before when I turned out to be dreaming. It felt like I was halfway between dream and not. The key was to take a deep breath and see if I felt the air within my lungs. Usually I could breathe underwater in my dreams, and that's when I knew they were dreams.

I looked at the water lapping at my feet, an endless sea, mystic and powerful and dangerous.

Maybe not.

I looked around for the source of my awakening and saw that Veon was resting beside me, breathing heavily and looking extremely distraught. Emily was at his side, letting him grip her hand tightly as he trembled violently. She rubbed his back attempting to placate him.

"Ve?"

When I tried to move, my limbs suddenly felt like jelly. So long as I held still, everything felt normal. I turned onto my side to face them.

"Veon?"

"What happened?" He asked, his voice shaking.

"We lost," Someone answered.

Out of the tide came a figure that I soon realized was Audrey. She looked exhausted, and the waters of this land didn't help her at all. Her trident was in her hand, but it was heavily cracked. She held it up and sheathed it as she joined us, collapsed from fatigue.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"We freed the Doors, got Annabeth, Percy, and No. 1 through," She explained. "But…"

"Bob," Veon muttered. "Damasen.  _You_."

She nodded. "I…I think I was brought here with you guys to help you."

"And Veon was brought here when he'd done his job," I surmised. I twisted and managed to sit myself up. "We're all here, we've done everything we can. Now all we can do is try and save the Primordials."

"I don't think they need much saving," Audrey said. "They began the end of the world. Tartarus is being destroyed right now, and if the damage climbs up to the surface, it'll be the end of everything. They're both still above Tartarus."

"But they've lost their faith in humanity because of him. Tartarus can't overpower Chaos and Order, he knew that, but what he  _could_  do was take advantage of their love for humanity. Humanity means flaws, and flaws plus ancient primordial power can be devastating. Essentially, I think we gave them despair. We took their consciousnesses, gave them emotions, focused their power into the form of minds that could be manipulated and hearts that could be hurt. They keep their interest in our world and use hosts to traverse the land anew, but it opens them up to our humanity. A little hopelessness thrown into the equation and here we are."

"So what are we supposed to do about it?" Veon asked.

"You and I have to figure out a way. In the end, Audrey's right. Tartarus is nothing compared to his parents. He only exists because they allow it. Tartarus must have done something to take the humanity within them and twist it into its darkest qualities - which is pretty much everything that Tartarus is. The five rivers, all those souls trapped in his dark armor suffering, the monsters reforming or reformed trapped in his depths - all of it is just…horrific. The most terrible aspects that come with life, regardless of what kind of life it is, that is what Tartarus harbors. The Primordials have given up their humanity because they've found reason to despair."

"And without humanity, they see this world as nothing but something to destroy," He finished.

"So we get to try and convince the creators of this entire universe and reality that we're worthy of living after they've deemed us doomed," Audrey summarized. "Whelp, I guess we've got nothing better to do."

"The others are working hard to fulfill their prophecy, so we should do the same with ours," Emily declared.

"Oh, what was that old prophecy?" I muttered. "Final call, final call, final call…"

"Didn't you say you'd figured out that prophecy?" Audrey asked.

"I had a guess. Now I'm not so sure. Only one way to find out."

I stood and brushed myself clean of sand before heading up the beach with the others scurrying to follow behind. At the top of the beach, stone buildings seamlessly merged the beach with a city. The sky was still gray with clouds, but the area was far from dark. At the center of the city was a large temple-like structure, and actually, I realized what this place reminded me of: Valhalla from Final Fantasy 13-2. And up there was the Temple of the Goddess. No doubt that was where we were going if we wanted to find the Primordials.

"Hey, where are we going?!" Audrey called.

"Wait, 'final call?' That was from  _my_  prophecy," Veon realized.

"Your prophecy basically said that you would be held prisoner by Tartarus destroying both the living and dead until you heard the final call. There would be nothing you could do and you'd be feeling the pain of all the souls trapped within Tartarus's depths."

He looked uncomfortable at the memory. "Yeah."

"The final call might be the end of this world," I continued. "I didn't like to entertain the idea, but the final call and the only way we could free you from Tartarus might be…the Primordials deciding the end. The final call…I feared that the only way to free you would to make the Primordials incite the end of this world, and it would have no choice but to start from-"

"From Tartarus," Audrey realized. "The end would have to start from the epicenter of the Primordials' power - the looming depths of Chaos. The destruction would have to get through Tartarus before it got to the overworld…"

"Meaning we had a chance, yes. A chance of freeing Veon then stopping the Primordials before things went too far. Now…" I put my hand to my chest and took a deep breath. There was a tight knot of pain that almost made it hard to breathe. "Now I'm starting to reconsider what I was thinking."

"How so?" Emily asked.

"Perhaps we were right about the final call, but the prophecy said that 'the dead shall rise' and 'the living shall fall.' Those were the conditions. Now that the final call has rung out across the land…did you guys manage to close the Doors of Death?"

"Yes…" Audrey muttered, though she seemed reluctant to admit it.

"What's wrong with  _that?_ " Veon asked.

"The final call has stopped the dead from rising, Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus and so did we…" I reiterated. "And now everyone has been extracted from Tartarus in one way or another. I don't…what if what we did finished the prophecy?  _Then_  what do we do? We came here to find the Primordials, and we have. But…what do we do now?"

"What do you mean?" Veon stepped in front of me and took my hand. "We made it here, we're close to fixing all of this. All we have to do is get to the Primordials and retrieve their power."

"But to what  _end?_  This place, our destinies…when will it  _end?!_  I…I walked through that place to get here, a place of desperation and submission and I…I think I understand Chaos better now. Chaos only wanted the end of this constant wheel of life. And at the same time, Chaos wants to go on. But thinking…thinking is so hard. When we win their favor, what happens? Will it all be worth it?"

"You can't be giving up," Emily said. "Not now. We've come so far, we've made our new friends and gone on this big adventure, and now we're close to finishing this. Once we're done, we can go back home. We can go to school and worry about calculus and AP Lit class and going to college. Didn't you want to get into computer programming since computers never attracted monsters for you?"

I shrugged. "That…was because of Zyanya," I admitted.

"But computers are ruling the world these days. Having someone who knows how to use technology even if the camps can't use them is important for missions out in the real world. And didn't you want to do some volunteering at the animal shelter? Once I become a vet you'd bring your dogs to me?"

"Yeah, and we can struggle over being in the drama club together with the hectic process of being part of the musical," Veon added.

"And we can go back to obsessing over fandoms like Sherlock," Audrey concluded. "Who else am I going to share hilarious memes with?"

I laughed. "Well, that's one reason to regain the power of the gods - to make sure that we can continue enjoying the joys of Doctor Who memes."

"That's the spirit!"

I exhaled a deep breath. "Right. Let's get going."

"Great! Where are we going again?"

I looked to the large building at the epicenter of the city – the temple that supposedly held the consciousness of the gods. "In there, I suppose."

"Do you think that thing is a big as the goddess's temple from LR?" Veon asked me.

"If this is really the representation of the Primordials' consciousness, I wouldn't be surprised if being in there will mix up the Primordials' fake worlds and the real world. They connect to everything, after all. Could be more like Orphan's Cradle."

"Oh  _that's_  gonna be a nightmare."

"Great, in English please," Audrey requested.

"It's most likely to be another maze," I explained. "In a realm where the physical plane isn't meant to exist, we're probably going to be wandering through a giant matrix of all of time, space, reality, the multiverse, etc. Imagine the Tardis and all the crazy stuff that can happen when it explodes."

"Ah. That  _does_  sound like a nightmare."

"If  _anyone's_  equipped to get through there, it's you guys, right?" Emily said.

"Right," Veon sighed. "But we're gonna need your guys' help."

"When you're dealing with deities like the Primordials, we may not be able to handle our humanity very well," I agreed. "So…will you stand with us?"

"Is that even a question?" Audrey chuckled. "Of  _course_  we're gonna be by your side. We've come this far, right?"

"As if we'd just up and abandon you," Emily smirked.

I looked up to the large temple where our destinies awaited. "Yeah, well…just had to make sure."

* * *

First Person: Kaze

Leo could only stare at Hazel as she sobbed over the debris separating us from the others.

She wasn't proud of crying, and she realized that she wasn't being fair to him. The last time the two of them had been together, she'd zapped him into her past and shown him Sammy, his great-grandfather - Hazel's first boyfriend from her past before she had died. She'd burdened him with emotional baggage he didn't need, and left him so dazed they'd almost gotten killed by a giant shrimp monster. Now here they were, together again, while their friends might be dying at the hands of a monster army, and she was throwing a fit.

"Sorry," She said meekly, wiping her face.

"Hey, you know…" Leo shrugged. "I've attacked a few rocks in my day."

She swallowed with difficulty. "Frank is…he's-"

"Listen," Leo interrupting, his voice free softening just a bit from his usual mirth. "Frank Zhang has  _moves_. He's probably gonna turn into a kangaroo and do some marsupial jujitsu on their ugly faces."

He helped her to her feet. Despite the panic simmering inside her, she knew Leo was right. Frank and the others weren't helpless. They would find a way to survive. The best thing she and Leo could do was carry on, making sure that their friends didn't have to worry about  _them_ , either. Frank was probably just as worried about her as she was of him.

I pressed my hand to the wall of rocks, trying to contain my growing anger. No one else was as fast as I was. What if no one was fast enough to save Azrael when he really needed it? Slowing down time, letting the rest of the world happen as it happened, and taking a monster with him into the Veil to risk getting killed…just imagining it made me want to both wring his neck for throwing me away and hug the living daylights out of him to try and protect him from everything else.

Hazel was studying Leo. The two of them easily forgot about my presence since my lack of speaking and breathing made me as dead as the rocks that surrounded us. Leo's hair had grown out longer and shaggier, and his face was leaner, so he looked less like an imp and more like one of those willowy elves in the fairy tales. The biggest difference was his eyes. They constantly drifted, as if Leo was trying to spot something over the horizon.

"Leo, I'm sorry," Hazel said.

He raised an eyebrow. "Okay. For what?"

"For…" She gestured around her helplessly. "Everything. For thinking you were Sammy, for leading you on. I mean, I didn't  _mean_  to, but if I did-"

"Hey." He squeezed her hand, though Hazel sensed nothing romantic in the gesture. "Machines are designed to work."

"Uh…what?"

"I figure the universe is basically like a big machine. I don't know who made it - if it was the Fates, or the gods, or capital-G God, or whatever - but it chugs along the way it's supposed to most of the time. Sure, little pieces break and stuff goes haywire once in a while, but mostly…things happen for a reason. Like you and me meeting."

"Leo Valdez," Hazel marveled, "you're a philosopher."

"Nah," He said. "I'm just a mechanic. But I figure my bisabuelo Sammy knew what was what. He let you go, Hazel. My job is to tell you that it's okay. You and Frank – you're good together. We're all going to get through this. I hope you guys get a chance to be happy. Besides, Zhang couldn't tie his shoes without your help."

"That's mean," Hazel chided, but she felt like something was untangling inside her – a knot of tension she'd been carrying for weeks.

Leo really  _had_  changed. Hazel was starting to think she'd found a good friend.

"What happened to you when you were on your own?" She asked. "Who did you meet?"

Leo's eye twitched. "Long story. I'll tell you sometime, but I'm still waiting to see hit it shakes out."

"The universe is a machine, so it'll be fine."

"Hopefully."

"As long as it's not one of  _your_  machines," She added. "Because your machines  _never_  do what they're supposed to."

"Yeah, ha-ha." Leo summoned fire into his hand. "Kaze?"

"We cannot get through the wall," I announced.

"Then we can only go forward. Which way, Miss Underground?"

Hazel scanned the path in front of them. About thirty feet down, the tunnel split into four smaller arteries, each one identical, but the one on the left radiated cold.

"That way," She decided. "It feels the most dangerous."

"I'm sold," Leo said.

As soon as we reached the first archway, the polecat Gale found us. She scurried up Hazel's side and curled around her neck, chittering crossly as if to say ' _Where have you been? You're late._ ' My Neko robot crawled out of my pocket and rested on my shoulder, aimed at Gale the polecat and letting out a robotic clicking that might've been the equivalent of hissing.

"Not the farting weasel again," Leo complained. "If that thing let's loose in close quarters like this, with my fire and all, we're gonna explode."

Gale barked a polecat insult at Leo. Neko barked a mechanical insult at everyone. Hazel hushed them all. She could sense the tunnel ahead, sloping gently down for about three hundred feet, then opening into a large chamber. In that chamber was a presence…cold, heavy, and powerful. Hazel hadn't felt anything like it since the cave in Alaska where Gaea had forced her to resurrect Porphyrion the giant king. Hazel had thwarted Gaea's plans that time, but she'd had to pull down the cavern, sacrificing her life and her mother's. She wasn't anxious to have a similar experience.

"Guys, be ready," She whispered. "We're getting close."

"Close to what?" Leo asked.

A woman's voice echoed down the corridor: "Close to  _me_."

A wave of magic swept over us, Mist, and it pulled us forward as though we were suddenly standing on a treadmill. Hazel and Leo were left with a nauseating feeling, skewing their sense of direction. Hazel was hit so hard her knees buckled, and even though her underground sense were normally flawless, she became completely unmoored. Though I could see the Mist because of my special state, from their perspective they didn't move but were suddenly three hundred feet down the corridor, at the entrance of the chamber.

"Welcome," A woman's voice said. "I've looked forward to this."

Hazel and Leo looked around for the source of the voice, but they couldn't see her hiding in the Mist. They noticed the Doors of Death standing fifty feet away, the rubble of an ancient altar to Hades surrounding the rows of iron chains running down either side, bolting the frame of the Doors to large hooks in the floor. Neko hissed on my shoulder, aimed at the Mist shrouding the area and the figures within.

"Where are you?" Hazel shouted.

"Don't you see us?" Taunted the woman's voice. "I thought Hecate chose you for your skill."

Another bout of queasiness churned through them as the Mist shifted again. To be, it felt like little more than a breeze, but to them it must have been like being caught in a sea of radiation. On Hazel's shoulder, Gale barked and passed gas, which didn't help. Dark spots floated though my vision, consolidating into a twenty-foot-tall shadowy figure looming next to the Doors. The giant Clytius was shrouded in the black smoke, just as Hazel had seen in her vision at the crossroads, but now she could dimly make out his form: dragon-like legs with ash-colored scales; a massive humanoid upper body encased in Stygian armor; long, braided hair that seemed to be made from smoke. His complexion was as dark as Death's (we would know, considering Hazel and I had met Death personally). His eyes glinted cold as diamonds, and though he carried no weapon, that didn't make him any less terrifying.

Leo whistled. "You know, Clytius…for such a big dude, you've got a beautiful voice."

"Idiot," Hissed the woman.

Halfway between Hazel and the giant, the air shimmered. The sorceress appeared. She wore an elegant sleeveless dress of woven gold, her dark hair piled into a cone, encircled with diamonds and emeralds. Around her neck hung a pendant like a miniature maze, on a cord set with rubies that made me think of crystallized blood drops. The woman was beautiful in a timeless, regal way - like a statue you might admire but could never love. Her eyes sparkled with malice.

"Pasiphaë," Hazel said.

The woman inclined her head. "My dear Hazel Levesque."

Leo coughed. "You two know each other? Like Underworld chums, or-"

"Silence, fool," Pasiphaë snapped. Her voice was soft, but full of venom. "I have no use for demigod boys - always full of themselves, so brash and destructive."

"Hey, lady, I don't destroy things much. I'm a son of Hephaestus."

"A tinkerer; even worse. I knew Daedalus. His inventions brought me nothing but trouble."

Leo blinked. "Daedalus…like,  _the_  Daedalus? Well, then, you should know all about us  _tinkerers_. We're more into fixing, building, occasionally sticking wads of oilcloth into the mouths of rude ladies-"

"Leo," Hazel interrupted, putting her arm across his chest. She had a feeling the sorceress was about to turn him into something unpleasant if he didn't shut up. "Let me take this, okay?"

"Listen to your friend," Pasiphaë agreed. "Be a good boy and let the woman talk."

Leo looked ready to protest, but I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him a step back. Hoping that he knew more Morse than just a few statements he learned as a child, I began tapping his shoulder.

Pasiphaë paced in front of us, examining Hazel, her eyes so full of hate it made Hazel's skin tingle. The sorceress's power radiated from her like heat from a furnace. Her expression was unsettling and vaguely familiar. Somehow though, the giant Clytius unnerved Hazel more. He stood in the background, silent and motionless except for the dark smoke pouring from his body, pooling around his feet.  _He_  was the cold presence Hazel had felt earlier - like a vast deposit of obsidian, so heavy that Hazel couldn't possibly move it, powerful and indestructible and completely devoid of emotion.

"Your…your friend doesn't say much," Haze noted.

Pasiphaë looked back at the giant and sniffed with disdain. "Pray he stays silent, my dear. Gaea has given me the pleasure of dealing with you; but Clytius is my, ah, insurance. Just between you and me, as sister sorceresses, I think he's also here to keep my powers in check, in case I forget my new mistress's orders. Gaea is careful that way. I have a feeling she is sending more to guard the Doors, starting with the one you so carelessly allowed to accompany you."

Hazel glanced at me. I realized that the aura in the room  _was_  affecting me to some extent, but it wasn't Pasiphaë or Clytius or the Mist. It felt like the earth sending a light hum through my entire being, sending the simple order to not interfere until necessary. It was the order being given to Clytius, it was the warning constantly looming over Pasiphaë that she was under close observation at all times. And I had a feeling that if  _I_  was being given orders to attend the Doors, then I wouldn't be the only one. Tsuchi and Kandai might be drawn here, meaning the others might be facing more than just a monster army. The thought that Azrael was now facing my mother and Kandai…it caused me to start gripping Leo's shoulder tighter in distress, but otherwise I gave away no other emotions. If Pasiphaë would fear me because I had Gaea's orders within me, then that could buy us time.

Hazel seemed tempted to protest that she wasn't a sorceress, but she wisely held her tongue. Let Pasiphaë believe what she wanted about Hazel, but whatever she believed, it was keeping them alive right now. Hazel didn't want to know how Pasiphaë planned to "deal" with them, or how the giant kept her magic in check, but she straightened her back and tried to look confident.

"Whatever you're planning, it won't work," She declared. "We've cut through every monster Gaea's put in our path. If you're smart, you'll get out of our way."

If only life were that simple. Gale the polecat gnashed her teeth in approval, but Pasiphaë didn't seem impressed.

"You don't look like much," The sorceress mused. "But then you demigods never do. My husband, Minos, king of Crete? He was a son of Zeus. You would never have known it by looking at him. He was almost as scrawny as that one." She flicked a hand towards Leo.

"Wow," muttered Leo. "Minos must've done something really horrible to deserve  _you_."

Pasiphaë's nostrils flared. "Oh…you have no  _idea_. He was too proud to make the proper sacrifices to Poseidon, so the gods punished  _me_  for his arrogance."

"The Minotaur," Hazel suddenly remembered.

The story was so revolting and grotesque Hazel had always shut her ears when they told it at Camp Jupiter. Pasiphaë had been cursed to fall in love with her husband's prize bull. She'd given birth to the Minotaur - half man, half bull.

Now, as Pasiphaë glared daggers at her, Hazel realized why her expression was so familiar. The sorceress had the same bitterness and hatred in her eyes that Hazel's mother sometimes had. In her worst moments, Marie Levesque would look at Hazel as if  _Hazel_  were a monstrous child, a curse from the gods, the source of all Marie's problems. That's why the Minotaur story bothered Hazel - not just the repellent idea of Pasiphaë and the bull, but the idea that a child,  _any_  child, could be considered a monster, a punishment to its parents, to be locked away and hated. To Hazel, the Minotaur had always seemed like a victim in the story.

"Yes," Pasiphaë said at last. "My disgrace was unbearable. After my son was born and locked in the Labyrinth, Minos refused to have anything to do with me. He said I had ruined  _his_  reputation! And do you know what happened to Minos, Hazel Levesque? For his crimes and his pride? He was  _rewarded_. He was made a judge of the dead in the Underworld, as if he had any right to judge others! Hades gave him that position.  _Your father_."

"Pluto, actually."

Pasiphaë sneered. "Irrelevant. So you see, I hate demigods as much as I hate the gods. Any of your brethren who survive the war, Gaea has promised to me, so that I may watch them die slowly in my new domain. I only wish I had more time to torture you two properly. Alas-" In the center of the room, the Doors of Death made a pleasant chiming sound. The green  **UP**  button on the right side of the frame began to glow. The chains shook. "There, you see?" Pasiphaë shrugged apologetically. "The Doors are in use. Twelve minutes, and they will open."

Hazel's gut trembled almost as much as the chains. "More giants?"

"Thankfully, no. They are all accounted for - back in the mortal world and in place for the final assault." Pasiphaë gave her a cold smile. "No, I would imagine the Doors are being used by someone else…someone unauthorized."

Leo inched forward. Smoke rose from his fists. "The others."

Hazel couldn't speak. She wasn't sure whether the lump in her throat was from joy or frustration. If their friends had made it to the Doors, if they were really going to show up here in twelve minutes…

"Oh, not to worry." Pasiphaë waved her hand dismissively. "Clytius will handle them. You see, when the chime sounds again, someone on  _our_  side needs to push the  **UP**  button or the Doors will fail to open and whoever is inside -  _poof_. Gone. Or perhaps Clytius will let them out and deal with them in person. That depends on  _you_  two."

Hazel's mouth tasted like tin. She didn't want to ask, but she had to. "How exactly does it depend on us?"

"Well, obviously, we need only one set of demigods alive," Pasiphaë said. "The lucky two will be taken to Athens and sacrificed to Gaea at the Feat of Hope."

"Obviously," Leo muttered.

"So will it be you two, or your friends in the elevator?" The sorceress spread her hands. "Let's see who is still alive in twelve…actually, eleven minutes, now."

The cavern dissolved into darkness as the Mist surrounded and consumed the two demigods, leaving me alone with the giant and the sorceress.

* * *

Third Person:

Hazel's internal compass spun wildly. She remembered when she was very small in New Orleans in the late 1930s, her mother had taken her to the dentist to get a bad tooth pulled. It was the first and only time Hazel had ever received ether. The dentist promised it would make her sleepy and relaxed, but Hazel felt like she was floating away from her own body, panicky and out of control. When the ether wore off, she'd been sick for three days.

This felt like a massive dose of ether.

Part of her knew she was still in the cavern. Pasiphaë stood only a few feet in front of them, Clytius waited silently at the Doors of Death, and Kaze was at their side. But layers of Mist enfolded Hazel, twisting her sense of reality. She took one step forward and bumped into a wall that shouldn't have been there.

Leo pressed his hands against the stone. "What the heck? Where are we?"

A corridor stretched out to their left and right. Torches guttered in iron sconces. The air smelled of mildew, as in an old tomb. On Hazel's shoulder, Gale barked angrily, digging her claws into Hazel's collarbone.

"Yes, I know," Hazel muttered to the weasel. "It's an illusion."

Leo pounded on the wall. "Pretty solid illusion."

Pasiphaë laughed. Her voice sounded watery and far away. "Is it an illusion, Hazel Levesque, or something more? Don't you see what I have created?"

Hazel felt so off-balance she could barely stand, much less think straight. She tried to extend her senses, to see through the Mist and find the cavern again, but all she felt were tunnels splitting off in a dozen directions, going everywhere  _except_  forward. Random thoughts glinted in her mind, like gold nuggets coming to the surface: ' _Daedalus._ ' ' _The minotaur locked away._ ' ' _Die slowly in my new domain._ '

"The Labyrinth," Hazel realized. "She's remaking the Labyrinth."

" _What_  now?" Leo had been tapping the wall with a ball-peen hammer, but he turned and frowned at her. "I thought the Labyrinth collapsed during that battle at Camp Half-Blood - like, it was connected to Daedalus' life force or something, and then he died."

Pasiphaë's voice clucked disapprovingly. "Ah, but  _I_  am still alive. You credit Daedalus with all the maze's secrets?  _I_  breathed magical life into his Labyrinth. Daedalus was nothing compared to me - the immortal sorceress, daughter of Helios, sister of Circe! Now the Labyrinth will be  _my_  domain."

"It's an illusion," Hazel insisted. "We just have to break through it."

Even as she said it, the walls seemed to grow more solid, the smell of mildew more intense.

"Too late, too late," Pasiphaë crooned. "The maze is already awake. It will spread under the skin of the earth once more while your mortal world is leveled. You demigods…you  _heroes_ …will wander its corridors, dying slowly of thirst and fear and misery. Or perhaps, if I am feeling merciful, you will die quickly, in great pain!"

Holes opened in the floor beneath Hazel's feet. She grabbed Leo and pushed him aside as a row of spikes shot upwards, impaling the ceiling.

"Run!" She yelled.

Pasiphaë's laughter echoed down the corridor. "Where are you going, young sorceress? Running from an illusion?"

Hazel didn't answer. She was too busy, trying to stay alive. Behind them, row after row of spikes shot towards the ceiling with a persistent  _thunk, thunk, thunk_. She pulled Leo down a side corridor, leaped over a tripwire, then stumbled to a halt in front of a pit twenty feet across.

"How deep is that?" Leo gasped for breath. His pants leg was ripped where one of the spikes had grazed him.

Leo heard a clicking on his shoulder and realized that Kaze's pet robot cat was sitting on his shoulder and talking to him in the same mechanical language that Leo had grown accustomed to with Festus. A combination of Morse and a little improvisation. The pit was at least fifty feet straight down, with a pool of poison at the bottom. Hazel sensed it as well, but could they trust their senses? Whether or not Pasiphaë had created a new Labyrinth, Hazel believed they were still in the same cavern, being made to run aimlessly back and forth while Pasiphaë and Clytius watched in amusement. She wondered for a moment if Kaze was trying to help them from the outside. Illusion or not: unless Hazel could figure out how to get out of this maze, the traps would kill them.

"Eight minutes now," Said the voice of Pasiphaë. "I'd love to see you survive, truly. That would prove you worthy sacrifices to Gaea in Athens. But then, of course, we wouldn't need your friends in the elevator."

Hazel's heart pounded. She faced the wall to her left. Despite what her senses told her, that  _should_  be the direction of the Doors of Death. Pasiphaë should be right in front of her. Hazel wanted to burst through the wall and throttle the sorceress. In eight minutes, she and Leo needed to be at the Doors of Death to let their friends out. But Pasiphaë was an immortal sorceress with thousands of years of experience in weaving spells. Hazel couldn't defeat her through sheer willpower. She'd managed to fool the bandit Sciron by showing him what he expected to see. Hazel needed to figure out what Pasiphaë wanted most.

"Seven minutes now," Pasiphaë lamented. "If only we had more time! So many indignities I'd like you to suffer."

" _More danger,_ " Neko clicked in a series of quick ticks that somehow formed words.

Someone grabbed Hazel and Leo's arms, pulling them a step towards the large pit. Leo gave a shout of surprise, but behind them, a large slab of stone shot out and cut off the corridor behind them, slowly inching forward and pushing them into the pit's direction.

Hazel looked towards the person who had grabbed her, only to see the silhouette of a woman made up of green smoke smiling at her. The green illusion put a finger to her lips and winked, giving her a small ' _shhh_ ' that was almost lost in the chaos of the Labyrinth around her. The green woman dissolved into the air, but Hazel realized that she knew exactly what she needed to do. She had to run the gauntlet. She had to make the maze  _more_  dangerous,  _more_  spectacular - make Pasiphaë focus on the traps rather than the direction the Labyrinth was leading. And if she had Kaze and this spirit watching over her, they might just have a chance at surviving.

"Leo, we're going to jump," Hazel said.

"But-!"

"It's not as far as it looks. Go!" She grabbed his hand and they launched themselves across the pit.

Hazel felt the lurch of someone's arms pulling the two of them along. When they landed, Hazel looked back and saw no pit at all - just a three-inch crack in the floor.

"Come on!" She urged.

They ran as the voice of Pasiphaë droned on. "Oh dear, no. You'll never survive  _that_  way. Six minutes."

The ceiling above them cracked apart. Gale the weasel squeaked in alarm and Neko hissed, holding onto Leo's shirt. Hazel imagined a new tunnel leading off to the left, a tunnel even more dangerous, going the wrong direction. The Mist softened under her will and the tunnel appeared. Hazel dashed towards it.

Pasiphaë sighed with disappointment. "You really aren't very good at this, my dear."

But Hazel felt a spark of hope. She'd created a tunnel; she'd driven a small wedge into the magic fabric of the Labyrinth. She floor collapsed under them, but the two were grabbed by their green ghost savior and dragged into another tunnel that was in just the right place. Hazel imagined another tunnel, veering back the way they'd come, but full of poisonous gas. The maze obliged. Green wisps of smoke from the ghost girl covered their faces, a thin layer that could barely be seen, but Hazel could sense it same as she could sense the Mist. Without giving Leo the chance to protest, she dragged him forward and they plunged through the toxic fog.

"Five minutes," Pasiphaë said. "Alas! If only I could watch you suffer longer."

They burst into a corridor with fresh air, their enchanted gas masks fading away swiftly, as if they'd never been there.

"If only she would shut up," Leo muttered.

They ducked under a bronze garrote wire. Hazel imagined the tunnel curving back towards Pasiphaë, ever so slightly. The Mist bent to her will. The walls of the tunnel began to close in on either side. Hazel didn't try to stop them. She made them close faster, shaking the floor and cracking the ceiling. She and Leo ran for their lives. A trapdoor suddenly appeared beneath them, causing them to fall through before they'd even realized what happened, just at the walls slammed shut above them. A gentle breeze held orient them and made their landing far easier than it should have been, as though they'd planned the jump through the trapdoor the entire time, but Hazel didn't even have time to mentally thank their guardian ghost as she sprinted down a new corridor that had turned the angle she had desired and continued following a curve that brought them closer to what she hoped was the center of the room.

"A pity," Pasiphaë said. "I wish I could kill you  _and_  your friends in the elevator, but Gaea has insisted that two of you must be kept alive until the Feast of Hope, when your blood will be put to good use! Ah, well. I will have to find other victims for my Labyrinth. You two have been second-rate failures."

Traps sprung behind them as they ran, pressure activated, tripwires, things that sensed their motion, gas, spikes, walls that suddenly shot out and would've crushed them, but they kept canceling themselves out and activating too late. Spikes formed from the ceiling, but a wall shot out and smashed that path, forcing Hazel and Leo to make a few detours as they followed the path laid before them. Pits opened up beneath their feet, but Hazel and Leo were able to soar over most of them from their momentum alone. Tripwires activated spears and arrows to shoot out, but poisonous acid fell from the ceiling and dissolved them, leaving Hazel and Leo only have to jump over the puddle of steaming acid. Pistons shot metal rods at them as they passed, but Hazel felt tugging forces moving her limbs left, right, up, and down, as though she knew where she would be attacked next. The same was happening to Leo, who was almost too disoriented keeping up with everything to do anything more than run after Hazel, who never released his hand.

Hazel and Leo stumbled to a stop. In front of them stretched a chasm so wide they couldn't see the other side. From somewhere below in the darkness came the sound of hissing - thousands and thousands of snakes. Hazel was tempted to retreat, but the tunnel was closing behind them, leaving them stranded on a tiny ledge. Gale the weasel paced across Hazel's shoulders and farted with anxiety.

"Okay, okay," Leo muttered. "The walls are moving parts. They gotta be mechanical. Give me a second."

"No Leo," Haze insisted. "There's no way back."

She noticed the small gathering of the green mist a distance down the pit, close enough that all they needed to do was jump to aim for it.

"But-"

"Hold my hand. On three!"

"But-!"

"Three!"

" _What?!_ "

Hazel leaped into the pit, pulling Leo with her. She tried to ignore his screaming and the flatulent weasel clinging to her neck. She aimed directly for the small gathering of green wisps that suddenly opened up into a chute of darkness. Pasiphaë laughed with delight, knowing that any moment they would be crushed or bitten to death in a pit of snakes. Instead, Hazel aimed her body to slip through the chute, twisting in midair and hitting the chute hard, sliding into the cavern and landing right on top of Pasiphaë.

"Ack!" The sorceress's head smacked against the floor as Leo sat down hard on her chest.

For a moment, the three of them and the weasel were a pile of sprawling bodies and flailing limbs. Hazel tried to draw her sword, but Pasiphaë managed to extricate herself first. The sorceress backed away, her hairdo bent sideways like a collapsed cake. Her dress was smeared with grease stains from Leo's toolbelt.

"You  _miserable_  wretches!" She howled.

The maze was gone. A few feet away, Clytius stood with his back to them, watching the Doors of Death. By Hazel's calculation, they had about thirty seconds until their friends arrived. Hazel felt exhausted from her run through the maze while controlling the Mist, but she needed to pull off one more trick. She had successfully made Pasiphaë see what she most desired. Now Hazel had to make the sorceress see what she most feared.

"You must really hate demigods," Hazel said, trying to mimic Pasiphaë's cruel smile. "We always get the best of you, don't we, Pasiphaë?"

"Nonsense!" Pasiphaë screamed. "I will tear you apart! I will-!"

"We're always pulling the rug out from under your feet," Hazel sympathized. "Your husband betrayed you, Theseus killed the Minotaur and stole your daughter, Ariadne. Now two second-rate failures have turned your own maze against you. But you knew it would come to this, didn't you? You always fall in the end."

"I am immortal!" Pasiphaë wailed. She took a step back, fingering her necklace. "You cannot stand against me!"

"You can't stand at all," Hazel countered. "Look."

She pointed at the feet of the sorceress. A trapdoor opened underneath Pasiphaë. She fell, screaming, into a bottomless pit that didn't really exist. The floor solidified; the sorceress was gone.

Leo stared at Hazel in amazement. "How did you-?"

Just then, the elevator dinged. Rather than pushing the  **UP**  button, Clytius stepped back from the controls, keeping their friends trapped inside. They were thirty feet away - much too far to reach the elevator - but Leo pulled out a screwdriver and chucked it like a throwing knife. An impossible shot, but the screwdriver was consumed by the green mist that had aided them so many times before, and it curved in the air. The screwdriver spun straight past Clytius and slammed into the  **UP**  button.

The Doors of Death opened with a hiss. Black smoke billowed out, and two bodies spilled face-first onto the floor: Percy and Annabeth, limp as corpses. A small figure crawled out of the elevators behind them, pulling Percy and Annabeth each with one arm and pulling them free of the Doors so that they weren't caught when the two elevator doors closed. The Doors of Death trembled, attempting to break free of the chains that bound them. The other side of the Doors were freed, but now the Doors needed to be freed from this side before they could fully relocate.

Hazel sobbed. "Oh, gods…"

She and Leo started forward, but Clytius raised his hand in an unmistakable gesture:  _stop_. He lifted his massive reptilian foot over Percy's head, but the tiny girl dropped the two demigods and held her hands up defensively with a small scream. The giant's smoky shroud poured over the floor, covering the three of them in a pool of dark fog.

"Clytius, you've lost," Hazel snarled. "Let them go, or you'll end up like Pasiphaë."

The giant tilted his head. His diamond eyes gleamed. At his feet, Annabeth lurched like she'd hit a power line. She rolled on her back, black smoke coiling from her mouth.

" _I am not Pasiphaë._ " Annabeth spoke in a voice that wasn't her, the words as deep as a bass guitar. " _You have won nothing._ "

"Stop that!" Even from thirty feet away, Hazel could sense Annabeth's life force waning, her pulse becoming thread. Whatever Clytius was doing, pulling words from her mouth, it was killing her.

Clytius nudged Percy's head with his foot. Percy's face lolled to one side. " _Not quite dead._ " The giant's words boomed from Percy's mouth. " _A terrible shock to the mortal body, I would imagine, coming back from Tartarus. They'll be out for a while._ "

The little girl in the center spoke, now collapsed between the demigods beside her, with Clytius's smoke billowing from her mouth. " _I'll tie them up and take them to Porphyrion in Athens. Just the sacrifice we need. And even the girl, the chosen one. Yes, this is a satisfying prize. Unfortunately, that means I have no further use for you two._ "

"Oh yeah?" Leo growled. "Well, maybe you got the smoke, buddy, but I've got the fire."

His hands blazed. He shot white-hot columns of flame at the giant, but Clytius's smoky aura absorbed them on impact. A large gale of wind surrounded Leo's his flames deprived of oxygen, and Leo's light was snuffed out. Tendrils of black haze traveled forth and joined in the tornado around Leo, covering him in the darkness. Leo fell to his knees, clutching at his throat.

"No!" Hazel ran towards him, but Gale chattered urgently on her shoulder - a clear warning.

" _I would not._ " Hazel turned at realized that Clytius's voice was reverberating from Kaze, who Hazel had almost forgotten about because he had seemingly disappeared. " _You do not understand, Hazel Levesque. I devour magic. I destroy the voice and the soul. You cannot oppose me._ "

Black fog spread farther across the room, covering Annabeth and Percy and their small ally, billowing towards Hazel. Blood roared in Hazel's ears. She had to act, but how? If that black smoke could incapacitate Leo so quickly, what chance did she have?

"F-Fire," She stammered in a small voice. "You're supposed to be weak against it."

The giant chuckled, using Leo's voice this time. " _You were counting on that, eh? It is true I do not like fire. But Leo Valdez's flames are not strong enough to trouble me._ "

Somewhere behind Hazel, a soft, lyrical voice said, "What about  _my_  flames, old friend?"

Gale squeaked excitedly and jumped from Hazel's shoulder, scampering to the entrance of the cavern where a blonde woman stood in a black dress, the Mist swirling around her. The giant stumbled backwards, bumping into the Doors of Death.

" _You,_ " He muttered from Percy's mouth.

"Me," Hecate agreed. She spread her arms. Blazing torches appeared in her hands. "It has been millennia since I fought at the side of a demigod, but Hazel Levesque has proven herself worthy. What do you say, Clytius? Shall we play with fire?"

If the giant had run away screaming, Hazel would have been grateful. Then they all could have taken the rest of the day off. Clytius disappointed her. When he saw the goddess's torches blazing, the giant seemed to recover his wits. He stomped his foot, shaking the floor and almost stepping on Annabeth's arm. Dark smoke billowed around him until the three at his feet were totally hidden. Hazel could see nothing but the giant's gleaming eyes.

" _Bold words._ " Clytius spoke from Kaze's mouth, who stared at them with blackened eyes. The only one who Clytius seemed to be able to control completely, rather than just his mouth. " _You forget, goddess. When we last met, you had the help of Hercules and Dionysus - the most powerful heroes in the world, both of them destined to become gods. Now you bring…these?_ "

Leo's unconscious body contorted in pain.

"Stop it!" Hazel yelled.

She didn't plan what happened next. She simply knew she had to protect her friends. She imagined them behind her, the same way she'd imagined new tunnels appearing in Pasiphaë's Labyrinth Leo dissolved. He reappeared at Hazel's feet, along with Percy, Annabeth, and the small girl with them. The Mist whirled around her, spilling over the stones and enveloping her friends. Where the white Mist met the dark smoke of Clytius, it steamed and sizzled, like lava rolling into the sea.

Leo opened his eyes and gasped. "Wh-What…?"

Annabeth and Percy remained motionless, but Hazel could sense their heartbeats getting stronger, their breath coming more evenly. On Hecate's shoulder, Gale the polecat barked with admiration. The goddess stepped forward, her dark eyes glittering in the torchlight. "You're right, Clytius. Hazel Levesque is not Hercules or Dionysus, but I think you will find her just as formidable."

Through the smoky shroud, Hazel saw the giant open his mouth. No words came out. Clytius sneered in frustration.

Leo tried to sit up. "What's going on? What can I-?"

"Watch Percy and Annabeth." Hazel drew her spatha. "Stay behind me. Stay in the Mist."

"But-"

The look Hazel gave him must have been more severe than she realized.

Leo gulped. "Yeah, got it. White Mist good. Black smoke bad."

Hazel advanced. The giant spread his arms and Kaze sped to his side, the giant's voice holding one more captive that Hazel couldn't reach.

" _Formidable?_ " The giant demanded. It sounded as if he were speaking through a chorus of the dead, using all the unfortunate souls who'd been buried behind the dome's stelae. " _Because the girl has learned your magic tricks, Hecate? Because you allow these weaklings to hide in your Mist?_ "

A sword appeared in the giant's hand - a Stygian iron blade much like Nico's except five times the size. " _I do not understand why Gaea would find any of these demigods worthy of sacrifice. I will crush them like empty nutshells._ "

Hazel's fear turned to rage. She screamed. The walls of the chamber made a crackling sound like ice in warm water, and dozens of gems streaked towards the giant, punching through his armor like buckshot. Clytius staggered backwards. Kaze bellowed in pain in front of him, but otherwise, the possessed boy didn't move. His iron breastplate was peppered with holes. Golden ichor tricked from a wound on his right arm. His shroud of darkness thinned. Hazel could see the murderous expression on his face, that was mimicked by Kaze standing in front of him.

" _You,_ " Clytius growled. " _You worthless-_ "

"Worthless?" Hecate asked quietly. "I'd say Hazel Levesque knows a few tricks even  _I_  could not teach her."

Hazel stood in front of her friends, determined to protect them, but her energy was fading. Her sword was already heavy in her hand, and she hadn't even swung it yet. She wished Arion were here. She could use the horse's speed and strength. Unfortunately, her equine friend would not be able to help her this time. He was a creature of the wide-open spaces, not the underground.

The giant dug his fingers into the wound on his biceps. He pulled out a diamond and flicked it aside. The wound closed.

" _So, daughter of Pluto, do you really believe Hecate has your interests at heart? Circe was a favorite of hers. And Medea. And Pasiphaë. How did they end up, eh?_ "

Behind her, Hazel hear Annabeth stirring, groaning in pain. Percy muttered something that sounded like, "Bob-bob-bob?"

Clytius stepped forward, holding his sword casually at his side, as if they were comrades rather than enemies. " _Hecate will not tell you the truth. She sends acolytes like you to do her bidding and take all the risk. If by some miracle you incapacitate me, only then will she be able to set me on fire. Then she will claim the glory of the kill. You heard how Bacchus dealt with the Alodai twins in the Colosseum. Hecate is worse. She is a Titan who betrayed the Titans. Then she betrayed the gods. Do you really think she will keep faith in you?_ "

Hecate's face was unreadable.

"I cannot answer his accusations, Hazel," The goddess admitted. "This is  _your_  crossroads. You must choose."

" _Yes, crossroads._ " The giant's laughter echoed. His wounds seemed to have healed completely. " _Hecate offers you obscurity, choices, vague promises of magic. I am the anti-Hecate. I will give you truth. I will eliminate choices and magic. I will strip away the Mist, once and for all, and show you the world in all its true horror._ "

Leo struggled to his feet, coughing like an asthmatic. "I'm loving this guy," he wheezed. "Seriously, we should keep him around for inspirational seminars." His hands ignited like blowtorches. "Or I could just light him up."

"Leo, no," Hazel said. "My father's temple. My call."

"Yeah, okay, But-"

"Hazel…" Annabeth wheezed. "Haze was so elated to hear her friend's voice that she almost turned, but she knew she shouldn't take her eyes off Clytius. "The chains…" Annabeth managed.

Hazel inhaled sharply. She'd been a fool! The Doors of Death were still open, shuddering against the chains that held them in place. Hazel had to cut them free so they would disappear and finally be beyond Gaea's reach.

The only problem: a smoky giant stood in her way.

" _You can't seriously believe you have the strength,_ " Clytius chided. " _What will you do, Hazel Levesque? Pelt me with more rubies? Shower me with sapphires? And do not forget that I am not the only obstacle standing in your way. Gaea's servant here was made for opponents greater than you. You were a fool to allow him to accompany you here. You shall face your end, by my hand or his._ "

Hazel gave him an answer. She raised her spatha and charged. Apparently Clytius hadn't expected her to be quite so suicidal. He was slow raising his sword, and Kaze didn't move to stop her, though she knew his speed wouldn't allow her an opening if he  _did_  decide to act. Hazel had realized, watching the interaction, that Clytius needed to focus on controlling Kaze directly - the boy wasn't acting with his own will, meaning that maybe Clytius could control Kaze, but he wouldn't have the same intuition or instincts that the true Kaze possessed. Clytius most likely couldn't swing his own sword and control Kaze at the same time, as controlling another person with speed couldn't be easy in the slightest.

By the time Clytius slashed his sword, Hazel had ducked between his legs and jabbed her Imperial gold blade into his gluteus maximus. Not very ladylike. The nuns at St. Agnes would never have approved. But it worked. Clytius roared and arched his back, waddling away from her. Mist still swirled around Hazel, hissing as it met the giant's black smoke.

Hazel realized that Hecate  _was_  assisting her, lending her the strength to keep up a defensive shroud. Hazel also knew that the instant her own concentration wavered and that darkness touched her, she would collapse. If that happened, she wasn't sure Hecate would be able - or willing - to stop the giant from crushing her and her friends.

Hazel sprinted towards the Doors of Death, towards the chains on the left side, knowing that hesitation wouldn't do her any good at the moment, and though she'd distracted Clytius-

Hazel was tackled before she could even blink by a force that hit her like a truck. Kaze tackled her, and though his body was just slightly taller than her, his speed combined with the inhuman rock that he seemed to be made of worked to knock her far left of her goal. She gripped her spatha with all she had, knowing that if she lost it, her chances might as well be null and void. Kaze didn't work to pin her down, but he still weighed more than a regular human his size should. She twisted her body with all her might, pushing against the floor to gain herself leverage. Kaze rolled off her, a limp sack of limbs, further proving that Clytius was controlling Kaze, and the boy wasn't working with his own smarts. He might as well have been a ragdoll, and Clytius had thrown him at her in a bought of desperation.

Hazel got to her feet and tried for the chains again, but she felt her ankle grabbed by Kaze, the rest of his body limp but his grip like iron. She nearly fell from her feet again, but she balanced on her sword and managed to stay upright. Hazel knew she wouldn't be able to drag herself towards the chains, not with Kaze's weight and Clytius himself recovering, so she simply chucked her sword with all she had, using her power to guide the weapon in the direction she needed it to fly.

" _NO!_ **"**

By sheer luck, she wasn't cut in half. The flat of the giant's blade caught her in the chest and sent her flying. Kaze's grip didn't waver, and she felt like her knee and leg were dislocated. She slammed into the wall and felt bones crack.

Across the room, Leo screamed her name. Through her blurry vision, she saw a flash of fire. Hecate stood nearby, her form shimmering as if she were about to dissolve. Her torches seemed to be flickering out, but that might have just been that Hazel was starting to lose consciousness. She couldn't give up now. She forced herself to stand. Though Kaze had released her ankle, her entire leg stung with pain, and any pressure she put on it surged through her knee then her hip like needles. Her side felt like it was embedded with razor blades. Her sword lay on the ground beside the doors, having managed to cut one of the chains.

Hazel knew her mobility was limited, so she made a sacrifice and held her hand out, tugging her sword back into her hand and then staggering forward. "Clytius!"

She meant it to sound like a brave challenge, but it came out as more of a croak. At least it got his attention. The giant turned from Leo and the others. He had raised Kaze and turned him on her friends. Kaze's winds were aimed at the group, attempting to dispel the Mist, and he was succeeding in pushing it back. When Clytius saw her limping forward, he laughed, and Kaze's efforts were halted.

" _A good try, Hazel Levesque,_ " Clytius admitted. " _You did better than I anticipated. But magic alone cannot defeat me, and you do not have sufficient strength. Hecate has failed you, as she fails all of her followers in the end._ "

The Mist around her was thinning. At the other end of the room, Leo tried to force-feed Percy some ambrosia, though Percy was still pretty much out of it. Annabeth was awake but struggling, barely able to lift her head. Hecate stood with her torches, watching and waiting, which infuriated Hazel so much, she found one last burst of energy. She threw her sword once more, not at the giant, but at the Doors of Death. The chains on the right side shattered. Hazel collapsed in agony, her side burning, as the Doors shuddered.

"That was for my brother, Nico," Hazel gasped. "And for destroying my father's altar."

One more chain remained, the one of the left she had missed the first time when Clytius had tackled her. Hazel tugged on her sword with her power, trying to pull it behind the Doors to the other side. Kaze was on her immediately, breaking any chance she had at concentration. But as he stared at her with his black, pupil-less eyes, Hazel noticed small pinpricks where his pupils  _should_  be. Slowly, Kaze's eyes began to clear. Brown eyes emerged from the black pools of his sclera that seemed to have clouded his eyes, like an island rising from the inky depths. His sclera remained black, but Hazel had hope.

"Kaze?" She whispered.

His eyes darted to the side, aimed right at the Doors and the final chain.

" _You have forfeited your right to a quick death_ ," Clytius said, speaking through Kaze's mouth still, but Kaze's eyes moved from the Doors to Hazel, his head unmoving.

He was trying to communicate with her. He looked down at his own body and back at Hazel, up and down three times. Hazel felt around with her powers and tugged, a small object falling into her hand.  _Kaze's retractable weapon_.

" _I will suffocate you in darkness, slowly, painfully. Hecate cannot help you. NO ONE can help you!_ "

The goddess raised her torches. "I would not be so certain, Clytius. Hazel's friends simply needed a little time to reach her - time you have given them with your boasting and bragging."

Clytius snorted. " _What friends? These weaklings? They are no challenge._ "

Behind Kaze, the air rippled. The Mist thickened, creating a doorway, and four people stepped through. Hazel nearly wept with relief. Frank's arm was bleeding and bandaged, but he was alive. Next to him stood Nico, Piper, and Jason - all with their weapons drawn. Azrael grabbed Kaze by his shoulders, pulling him off of Hazel and putting his hands on Kaze's temples. His black sclera bled back to white and Kaze gasped, as though suddenly being pulled from underwater and finally being able to breathe.

"Hazel!" Kaze shouted.

She unleashed his weapon and chucked it with all her might, aimed right at the Doors. Her strength should've never been able to make the weapon fly so far, but spurred by a gust of wind and grabbed by the green mist from before, the shuriken flew up and sliced right through the final chain, piercing the ground beside the Doors. The Doors of Death shuddered and disappeared in a flash of purple light.

Kaze looked down at Azrael with relief in his eyes, taking his hands from Kaze's temples and holding them gratefully. He whispered words of appreciation in his native tongue, something that Azrael seemed to understand, because he smiled and replied humbly.

"Sorry we're late," Jason said. "Is this the guy who needs killing?"


	41. Initium Novum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are 78 chapters in this book! Holy Hera! I mean I never paid attention in the previous books regarding how many chapters we went through, but damn! I can read roman numerals, I just never really bothered to, and then I look up and I'm like "50, 60, 70…78?!"

First Person: Azrael

I almost felt bad for Clytius.

He was attacked from every direction - Leo shooting fire at his legs, Frank and Piper jabbing at his chest, Jason flying into the air and kicking him in the face, and Kaze simply sweeping across the battlefield with his speed, having recovered his weapon and his wits. Hazel was proud to see how well Piper remembered her sword-fighting lessons. Each time the giant's smoky veil started creeping around one of them, Nico was there, slashing through it, drinking in the darkness with his Stygian blade, and I could easily blow the fog in another direction if I just concentrated hard enough.

Percy and Annabeth were on their feet, looking weak and dazed, but their swords were drawn. When did Annabeth get a sword? And what was it made of -  _ivory?_  They looked like they wanted to help, but there was no need. The giant was surrounded.

Clytius snarled, turning back and forth as if he couldn't decide which one of them to kill first. " _Wait! Hold still! No! Ouch!_ "

The darkness around him dispelled completely, leaving nothing to protect him except his battered armor. Ichor oozed from a dozen wounds. The damage healed almost as fast as it was inflicted, but I could tell the giant was tiring. One last time, Jason flew at him, kicking him in the chest. Kaze threw his weapon at his staggering speed with the force of a mini bomb and the giant's breastplate shattered. His sword was flung away from the impact and he fell to his knees as the demigods encircled him. I reached down and grabbed his weapon, causing it to shrink down to my proportions, and I joined the others with my weapon raised.

Just then, the entire room shook, but even Clytius didn't seem to know what was happening. Something exploded, busting through the rock walls and sending something flying straight towards Clytius. Everyone jumped back as Clytius was hit by a large falling object that smashed into him like a mini meteor. A battle cry rung out from the hole that the projectile had emerged from, and it took me a moment to realize it was Hannah. She dashed out from the hole in the wall, aimed right at where Clytius had been, but a body jumped away from where Clytius was and the giant himself narrowly missed getting crushed by Hannah's weapon, hardened into the shape of a sword.

There was a giggle from above, Hannah following her target as she launched after it.

"Not bad, blondie." I noticed Kaze tense at the sound of that voice. "But you're gonna have to do better than that."

Two women clashed in the air - Tsuchi and Hannah, two descendants of Hephaestus who lived in death. Both of them looked ragged, but at the same time, neither of them had ripped clothes or cuts or scratches. They were covered in dust and grime from their duel, but beyond that, neither of them seemed to be injured. Both of them were using their own gadgets as well as their pure strength and speed - which was almost blindingly fast that I couldn't keep up. From the hole that Tsuchi and Hannah came through, another person was chucked through and crashed down into the floor of the House of Hades. This time, it was Ithuriel, who groaned and sat up with his lance still in his grasp. Like Hanna and Tsuchi, he didn't have any cuts, but he was dirtied from a brawl. Out of the hole came Kandai, a blazing streak of light that Ithuriel barely managed to block and toss away, jumping after him to continue their fight - bow to lance.

"Uh oh," Jason muttered.

Hecate, ignoring the brawls going on around her, stepped forward to the fallen Clytius, her torches raised. Mist curled around the giant, hissing and bubbling as it touched his skin. "And so it ends," Hecate said.

" _It does not end._ " Clytius's voice echoed from somewhere above, muffled and slurred. " _My brethren have risen. Gaea waits only for the blood of Olympus. It took all of you together to defeat me. What will you do when the Earth Mother opens her eyes?_ "

Laughter.

A high pitched cackle overtook the entire cavern, causing even the Reapers and the reanimations to pause and look around in confusion and horror. Clytius and Hecate alike looked up at the sound, their faces twisting with equal disdain and…fear.

" ** _WHAT WILL WE DO, YOU ASK, POOR CLYTIUS?_** "

A light flashed. The Doors of Death returned, though they were not chained. The elevator doors hissed open, encased in pure light that blinded all of us. When the light finally faded, I saw two figures standing and two figures lying on the floor. The Doors vanished once more, and it finally processed who we were seeing.

"Onesan?" Kaze blurted.

"Big sister…" No. 1 had risen, her stuffed animal clutched tightly in her arms.

"Veon…" Nico muttered in disbelief.

"Emily! Audrey!" Piper called. The two girls were passed out at the feet of Veon and Rei.

The two standing… _creatures_  emanated power that was so intense that I felt like my body would collapse from the pressure in the air alone. The first people to move were Kandai and Tsuchi, who dived for the rocky walls and disappeared within, melding with the walls as though they were some kind of goo that was absorbed into the rocky depths.

"No!" Hannah screamed. "Dammit!"

"After them!" Ithuriel shouted. Disappearing into the Veil. Hannah followed suit, ignoring the eyes of the demigods watching her.

" _As I was saying,_ " Rei said, her voice booming through the air louder than Clytius's by far.

While Clytius's voice was dark and consuming, Rei's was overall terrifyingly explosive, as though she was setting the very molecules in the air to explode with each syllable, but she was also the one barely keeping them from releasing their energy. It was like her very voice was holding them all at gunpoint, and at any moment she could let the air explode - which actually, I had no doubt was the case.

" _Poor little Clytius, you have no idea what Gaea has done and what she will pay for. You preach the rising of my dear daughter-in-law? Let her arise, I_ welcome _it! I will make every moment of her consciousness a waking nightmare. As for_ you _, I was hoping for a nice show upon my return. Dear, would you like to do the honors?_ "

She looked over to Veon, whose blank gaze locked onto Clytius. If I had started feeling sorry for the giant before, now I outright pitied the day he was born. Veon stepped forward, hands in his jacket pockets, gaze black as onyx. He removed his hands from his pockets and cracked his fingers, clenching and unclenching his fists as though adjusting to having fingers. He grabbed the giant by his neck, and Clytius couldn't even beg he was so frightened.

" _Devourer of the voice and soul, Clytius, allow me to show you what it means to devour that which you so desire. Allow me to strip away your illusions of grandeur. Allow me to show you your place in this vast cosmos, compared to something like me…_ "

He opened his mouth and his eyes widened. From both his mouth and eyes, streams of black smoke emerged and consumed Clytius. It took me a moment to realized that the dark smoke, laced with dark purple and red hues, was souls. Screaming souls of monsters so vile that they would be damned to Tartarus itself, condemned to never even be  _reborn_  in Tartarus and simply held within its infinite, darkest depths to suffer. Souls punished to eternal misery, unending wails of misery, a magic beyond that of anything in the mortal realm. Voices crying out so loud Clytius could never smother them; magic so great that even Clytius is overwhelmed. I couldn't tell if the Primordial intended for Clytius's death to be so ironic or not, but I had a feeling that both of them enjoyed toying with the giant.

The screaming souls were sucked back into Veon, wailing even louder in an attempt to hold their freedom a little longer, but ultimately they returned from whence they came. Good thing, too, because I doubt that any of us would've been able to stand up to a force that only Tartarus or the Primordials above could possibly contain. Hecate turned her torches upside down, thrusting them like daggers at Clytius's head. The giant's hair went up faster than dry tinder, spreading down his head and across his body. Clytius's lifeless body fell without a sound, face-first in the rubble of Hade's altar. His body crumbled to askes.

Rei sighed, her voice like a strong gust of wind within the still cavern. " _Well,_ that _was boring. I expected more. I suppose we'll have to wait until the true retribution begins._ " She brushed some invisible dust off her jacket. " _I suppose we wait then. Even Tartarus was more entertaining than that puny child of his._ "

"Onesan…?" Kaze asked meekly.

She cast her gaze onto him. Heterochromatic eyes gazed at Kaze, her left pure black and her right pure white. Then, those eerie eyes faded to both be brown. When she spoke, her voice was small; but it was only small compared to the Primordial's because it was  _her_  voice. "Ototo…?"

She collapsed. Kaze quickly reached out to catch her despite her being a dangerous Primordial and all, but he failed to catch Veon, who collapsed where he stood at the same time as she did, and no one reached out to catch him.

"You should go now, Hazel Levesque," Hecate said, as though the scene before her wasn't even happening. "Lead your friends out of this place."

I wanted someone to ask, " _What? No reactions to the eldest Primordials of creation appearing before your very eyes?_ " but at the same time, I knew that everyone was too afraid to do anything, too shell-shocked at the very least.

Hazel gritted her teeth, trying to hold in her anger. "Just like that? No 'thank you'? No 'good work'?"

The goddess tilted her head. Gale the weasel chittered - maybe a goodbye, maybe a warning - and disappeared in the folds of her mistress's skirts.

"You look in the wrong place for gratitude," Hecate said. "As for 'good work,' that remains to be seen. Speed your way to Athens. Clytius was not wrong. The giants have risen -  _all_  of them, stronger than ever. Gaea is on the very edge of waking. The Feast of Hope will be poorly named unless you arrive to stop her. Your friends may have defied the odds today, but no mortal can withstand such power for long. The creatures that your friends hold, they are far older, far greater than I. And far crueler. There may come a time when you long for my company in comparison to theirs. Do not, for a moment, believe they will act as you desire. Hasten to your destinies, but beware that you will face more crossroads, and your choices will lead to much tragedy."

The chamber rumbled. Another stela crashed to the floor and shattered.

"The House of Hades is unstable," Hecate said. "Leave now. We shall meet again."

The goddess dissolved; the Mist evaporated,

" _She's_  friendly," Percy grumbled.

The others turned towards him and Annabeth, as if just realizing they were there.

"Dude." Jason gave Percy a bear hug,

"Back from Tartarus!" Leo whooped. "That's my peeps!"

Piper threw her arms around Annabeth and cried. I walked over to Emily and Audrey, placing my hands on them just to confirm they were alive. They were alive, yes, and in fact they seemed healthy as ever. I carefully poked them, trying to wake them. No. 1 scurried over to her big sister, her poodle jumping out of her arms to poke the older version of the girl resting in Kaze's arms. To the poodle's surprise, her eyes opened abruptly. The poodle squeaked "Do!" and clamored onto its owner, who grabbed the stuffed animal and squeezed it.

"Onesan?" Kaze asked.

Audrey and Emily slowly stirred in front of me, gathering their bearings and looking around.

"Where…?" Audrey muttered.

Piper rushed over to the two rising women and hugged then, checking for any injuries while the two assured her they were fine. Nico knelt by his brother's side, reaching out to touch him but thinking better of it a moment later. Veon assured Nico he was fine, and the two seemed content with silent nods of understanding.

" _I'm fine, little brother,_ " Rei said to Kaze, speaking their native tongue. " _I told you I'd come back no matter what._ "

" _Never doubted you,_ " Kaze said, though his voice was close to breaking. " _But what happened…?_ "

Frank ran to Hazel. He gently folded his arms around her. "You're hurt," he said.

"Ribs probably broken, leg dislocated," Hazel admitted. "But Frank…what happened to your arm?"

He managed a smile. "Long story. We're alive. That's what matters."

She was so giddy with relief it took her a moment to notice Nico and his sorrowful expression as he and Veon seemed to share a silent conversation. Nico's expression was full of pain and conflict.

"Hey," Hazel called to him, Frank helping her over to her brothers.

Nico hesitated a moment, but he tried to relax his body and kissed her forehead. "I'm glad you're okay," he said. "The ghosts were right. Only one of us made it to the Doors of Death. You…you would have made Dad proud."

She smiled, cupping her hand gently to his face. "We couldn't have defeated Clytius without you."

He chuckled, but it was full of pain that betrayed his attempt at a lighthearted tone. "Oh, I don't know. You seemed to have been managing on your own."

"That's not true. Don't even think about saying that we could've managed to get this far without you."

She brushed her thumb under Nico's eye and wondered if he had been crying. She wanted so badly to understand what was going on with him, what had happened to him over the last few weeks. After all they'd just been through, Hazel was more grateful than ever to have brothers - family.

Before she could say that, the ceiling shuddered. Cracks appeared in the remaining tiles; columns of dust spilled down.

"We've got to get out of here," Jason announced. "Uh, Frank…?"

Frank shook his head. "I think one favor from the dead is all I can manage today."

"Wait, what?" Hazel asked.

Piper raised her eyebrows. "Your  _unbelievable_  boyfriend called in a favor as a child of Mars. He summoned the spirits of some dead warriors, made them lead us here through…um, well, I'm not sure, actually. The passages of the dead? All I know is that it was  _very, very_  dark."

To their left, a section of the wall split. Two ruby eyes from a carved stone skeleton popped out and rolled across the floor.

"Onesan?" Kaze asked.

She shook her head. "We've got no juice left for anything. Even if we did, we don't have full control over our power yet. We could end up blowing this whole place up - even faster than it's already coming down anyway."

"We'll have to shadow-travel," Veon announced. "Nico, we're going to have to use you as a catalyst, but the rest of us can feed you power to travel such a large group."

Nico nodded hesitantly. "Okay." ' _If that's the only option,_ ' he seemed to say.

"We can help you," Hazel agreed.

"We can feed power into you, Nico, don't worry, it'll be fine," Rei assured him.

An entire section of tiles peeled loose from the ceiling.

"Everyone, grab hands!" Nico yelled.

Everyone made a hasty circle – the seven of the prophecy, four in the Primordial squad, plus Kaze, Azrael, and No. 1. Envisioning the Greek countryside above, all of us fed what we could through a joined link as Nico focused the energy into shadow-traveling. The cavern collapsed, and I felt myself dissolving into shadow. It was like falling into the Veil, just a little more chaotic and dangerous and out of my control. I felt our souls traveling, clinging to Nico who was guiding us. I clung to the others and pulled everyone close as we finally emerged.

We appeared on the hillside overlooking the River Acheron. The sun was just rising, making the water glitter and the clouds glow orange. The cool morning air smelled of honeysuckle. I was holding Kaze's left hand in my right and some random person's hand in my left. We were all alive and mostly in one piece. The sunlight in the trees was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I wanted to live in that moment - free of monsters and gods and evil spirits. I would later learn that I wasn't the only one who just wanted a peaceful moment like that to last forever, without the burdens that had been placed upon our shoulders. Ever since escaping Ward K, I'd been admiring nature and the outside world like I never have before. There was once a time, not very long ago at all, when I never thought I'd have something like this.

Then, everyone began to come back to their senses. Nico realized he was holding Percy's hand and quickly let go.

Leo staggered backwards. "You know…I think I'll sit down now."

"I second that," Audrey said, collapsing without much grace.

Rei and Veon basically flopped like puppets whose strings had just been cut. The two of them had their hands interweaved and didn't let go even as they fell, but Rei was holding onto Kaze who was holding onto me, and Veon was holding Emily's hand who was also holding Audrey's, so we all collapsed in a chain reaction and broke out laughing with what energy we had left from the relief of surviving all of that. The other demigods weren't in any position to do resist, so they all collapsed together.

The Argo II still floated over the river a few hundred yards away. We should probably signal Coach Hedge and tell him we were alive. We must've been down there all night, maybe even  _several_  nights. I was used to time passing without me really paying any attention, but being underground gave a similar effect without the relaxation of using the Veil. But at the moment, the group was too tired to do anything except sit and relax and marvel at the fact that they were okay.

We began to exchange stories.

Frank explained what had happened with the ghostly legion and the army of monsters - how Nico had used the scepter of Diocletian, and how bravely Jason and Piper had fought. I explained what happened with me and my parents, while Kaze looked torn between hugging me to death and smacking me for throwing him down that tunnel. Luckily his attention was dividing doting over his sister as well, who was resting against Veon, the two looking like they were having to work very hard just to stay conscious and smiling so that they didn't look like zombies.

"Frank is being modest," Jason was saying. "He controlled the entire legion. You should've seen him. Oh, by the way…" Jason glanced at Percy. "I resigned my office, gave Frank a field promotion to praetor. Unless you wanna contest that ruling."

Percy grinned. "No argument here."

" _Praetor?_ " Hazel repeated, staring at Frank.

He shrugged uncomfortably. "Well…yeah. I know it seems weird."

She tried to throw her arms around him, then winced as she remembered her busted ribs. She settled for kissing him. "It seems  _perfect._ "

Leo clapped Frank on the shoulder. "Way to go, Zhang. Now you can order Octavian to fall on his sword."

"I'd love nothing more than to make him fall on his sword," Rei sighed. "You know, just pull a rock into his path, make his sword fall  _just_  the right way." She waved her hand as though daydreaming about it.

"Tempting," Frank agreed. He turned apprehensively to Percy. "But you guys…Tartarus has to be the  _real_  story. A-And what about the Primordials? What happened?"

"The end of the world," Audrey said flatly. "But we stopped it."

I glanced at Nico and saw the pain in his eyes. I realized that through all that they must have gone through, all the nightmares of Tartarus and closing the Doors, Nico had once gone to Tartarus too. I had heard a loose version of the story of how he and Nico's souls were connected, how Veon had dreams that he had been with Nico, but the truth of it is, Nico had gone down there alone. He'd faced the horrors of Tartarus as a child of death, facing nightmares and terrors that his friends had probably been lucky enough to have been blind to. The Underworld, the Veil, the darkness…well, let's just say that things like the Mist helped hide things from mortal eyes for their own good, but for those who could see past it, it wasn't anything to brag around.

"We'll tell you the story," Percy promised. "But not yet, okay? I'm not ready to remember that place."

Rei and Veon stared off into space, and Emily glanced at them with a worrying gaze before intervening. "Yeah, we should probably have some time to…cool down," She said carefully. "A lot went on, guys, and…we need some time to recover."

No one protested, simply nodding in understanding. Though they could never know what happened down there and hopefully never would, they could understand that it was a harrowing experience.

"Right," Annabeth agreed. "Right now…" She gazed towards the river and faltered. "Uh, I think our ride is coming."

I turned in the direction of her gaze. The Argo II veered to port, its aerial oars in motion, its sails catching the wind. Festus's head glinted in the sunlight. Even from a distance, I could hear him creaking and clanking in jubilation.

"That's my boy!" Leo yelled.

Kaze turned at a small clicking from his shoulder, and I noticed that his little robotic cat had appeared on his shoulder. "Good boy, Neko."

I smiled as Kaze scratched his pet's head as the cat let out a mechanical purr.

As the ship got closer, I saw Coach Hedge standing at the prow. "About time!" The coach yelled down. He was doing his best scowl, but his eyes gleamed as if maybe, just maybe, he was happy to see us. "What took you so long, cupcakes? You kept your visitor waiting!"

"Visitor?" Hazel murmured.

At the rail next to Coach Hedge, a dark-haired girl appeared wearing a purple cloak, her face so covered with soot and bloody scratches that she was almost unrecognizable.

"Reyna," Emily realized.

* * *

First Person: Zytaveon

I wasn't sure how I felt about the Athena Parthenos.

Percy looked like he was waiting for the giant statue to strike him down, Azrael was looking at the statue in awe (this being the first time he's seen the thing standing upright in its full glory) and Rei stared at it almost sadly. Then again, I think that was just her natural state of being now. She didn't release my hand, though I wasn't sure if it was for her sake or for mine. Leo's new mechanical hoist system had lowered the Athena Parthenos onto the hillside with surprising ease. Now the forty-foot tall goddess gazed serenely over the River Acheron, her gold dress like molten metal in the sun. Somehow, seeing the Primordials themselves didn't dampen how amazing Athena looked, even though now she seemed small compared to all we'd been through.

"Incredible," Reyna admitted.

She was still red-eyed from crying. Soon after she'd landed on the Argo II, her pegasus Scipio had collapsed, overwhelmed by poisoned claw marks from a gryphon attack the night before. Reyna had put the horse out of his misery with her golden knife, turning the pegasus into dust that scattered in the sweet-smelling Greek air. Maybe not a bad end for a flying horse, but Reyna had lost a loyal friend. I figured that she'd given up too much in her life already. If I'd had to do that to my horse, I know that it would've taken a great deal of strength, a battle for strength that I'd probably lose.

The praetor circled the Athena Parthenos warily. "It looks newly made."

"Yeah," Leo said. "We brushed off the cobwebs, used a little Windex. It wasn't hard."

The Argo II hovered just overhead. With Festus keeping watch for threats on the radar, the entire crew had decided to eat lunch on the hillside while they discussed what to do. After the last few weeks, everyone figured that we'd earned a good meal together - really anything that wasn't fire water or drakon meat soup. Oddly enough, I didn't feel hungry despite my exhaustion. I let Rei ly against me, which was a comforting feeling that ease the turmoil in my stomach that refused to fully settle. I had a feeling that if she lost contact with me…well, I didn't want that to happen.

"Hey, Reyna," Annabeth called. "Have some food. Join us."

The praetor glanced over, her dark eyebrows furrowed, as if ' _join us_ ' didn't quite compute. Most of us had never seen Reyna without her armor before. It was on board the ship, being repaired by Buford the Wonder Table. She wore a pair of jeans and a Camp Jupiter T-shirt and looked almost like a normal teenager - except for the knife at her belt and that guarded expression, like she was ready for an attack from any direction. That was a common look among this crew.

"All right," She said finally.

The others scooted over to make room for her in the circle. She sat cross-legged next to Annabeth, picked up a cheese sandwich, and nibbled at the edge.

"So," Reyna said. "Frank Zhang…praetor."

Frank shifted, wiping crumbs from his chin. "Well, yeah. Field promotion."

"To lead a different legion," Reyna noted. "A legion of ghosts."

"Weirder shit has happened," Rei sighed, her eyes closed as she laid against my chest.

Hazel put her arm protectively through Frank's. After an hour in sick bay, they both looked a lot better, but I could tell they weren't sure what to think about their old boss from Camp Jupiter dropping in for lunch.

"Reyna," Jason said. "You should've seen him."

"He was  _amazing_ ," Piper agreed.

"Frank is a leader," Hazel insisted. "He makes a great praetor."

Reyna's eyes stayed on Frank, like she was trying to guess his weight. "I believe you. I approve."

Frank blinked. "You do?"

Reyna smiled back dryly. "A son of Mars, the hero who helped to bring back the eagle of the legion…I can work with a demigod like that. I'm just wondering how to convince the Twelfth Fulminata."

Frank scowled. "Yeah. I've been wondering the same thing."

"I could come down and threaten to smite them," Rei suggested, still looking like she was asleep. "Or give you a godly blessing or something. Whatever makes you happy."

Percy was still staring at Frank, surprised by how much he'd changed. A 'growth spurt' was putting it mildly. He was at least three inches taller, less pudgy, and more bulky, like a linebacker. His face looked sturdier, his jawline more rugged. It was as if Frank had turned into a bull and then back to human, but he'd kept some of the bullishness.

"The legion will listen to you, Reyna," Frank said. "You made it here alone, across the ancient lands."

Reyna chewed her sandwich as if it were cardboard. "In doing so, I broke the laws of the legion."

"Caesar broke the law when he crossed the Rubicon. Great leaders have to think outside the box sometimes."

She shook her head. "I'm not Caesar. After finding Jason's note in Diocletian's Palace, tracking you down was easy. I only did what I thought was necessary."

Percy couldn't help smiling. "Reyna, you're too modest. Flying halfway across the world by yourself to answer Annabeth's plea, because you knew it was our best chance for peace? That's pretty freaking heroic."

Reyna shrugged. "Says the demigod who fell into Tartarus and found his way back."

"He had help," Annabeth said.

"Oh, obviously. Without you, I doubt Percy could find his way out of a paper bag."

"True."

"Hey!" Percy complained.

The others started laughing, but Percy didn't mind. It felt good to see them smile. Heck, just being in the mortal world felt good, breathing un-poisonous air, enjoying actual sunshine on his back. Suddenly I thought of Bob. ' _Tell the sun and stars hello for me._ ' I squeezed Rei's hand, which was still clasped with my own as she laid against me, and she squeezed back without opening her eyes. In that motion, she told me she understood. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that Bob and Damasen had sacrificed their lives so that we could sit here now, enjoying the sunlight and laughing with our friends. And especially me. I should've never come back. I should've just stayed in Tartarus.

' ** _You should've left me,_** ' I whispered again through a telepathic link. We'd only been free for a few hours, and already I'd lost count of the amount of times I'd said that to her.

' ** _I couldn't,_** ' She responded. ' ** _I couldn't let you go, and I won't. I won't regret it, either. I'm here for you._** '

"In any case," Emily interrupted, "you came here in the best interests for your people, Reyna. Rules about not coming here, to the ancient lands? They're dumb. This is where Rome originated, right? Sure, it's dangerous, but I don't see why coming here would be so bad that you'd be stripped of your rank or anything, especially since you did this for the sake of your legion. You want peace, there's nothing wrong with that, and I'm sure saving the world will be a good way to prove that you did the right thing.

Leo pulled a tiny screwdriver from his tool belt. He stabbed a chocolate-covered strawberry and passed it to Coach Hedge. Then he pulled out another screwdriver and speared a second strawberry for himself.

"So, the twenty-million-peso question," Leo said. "We got this slightly-used forty-foot-tall statue of Athena. What do we do with it?"

Reyna squinted at the Athena Parthenos. "As fine as it looks on this hill, I didn't come all this way to admire it. According to Annabeth, it must be returned to Camp Half-Blood by a Roman leader. Do I understand correctly?"

Annabeth nodded. "I had a dream down in…you know, Tartarus. I was on Half-Blood Hill, and Athena's voice said, ' _I must stand here. The Roman must bring me._ '"

Percy studied the statue uneasily. He'd never had the best relationship with Annabeth's mom. He kept expecting Big Mama Statue to come alive and chew him out for getting her daughter into so much trouble - or maybe just step on him without a word.

"It makes sense," Nico said.

Percy flinched. It almost sounded like Nico had read his mind and was agreeing that Athena should step on him.

The son of Hades sat at the other end of the circle near me, eating nothing but half a pomegranate, the fruit of the underworld. I wondered if that was Nico's idea of a joke.

"The statue is a powerful symbol," Nico said. "A Roman returning it to the Greeks…that could heal the historic rift, maybe even heal the gods of their split personalities."

Coach Hedge swallowed his strawberry along with half the screwdriver. "Now, hold on. I like peace as much as the next satyr-"

"You  _hate_  peace," Leo said.

"The point is, Valdez, we're only - what? A few days from Athens? We got an army of giants waiting for us there. We went to all the trouble of saving this statue-"

" _I_  went to most of the trouble," Annabeth reminded him.

"-because that prophecy called it the  _giants' bane_ ," The coach continued. "So why aren't we taking it to Athens with us? It's obviously our secret weapon." He eyed the Athena Parthenos. "It looks like a ballistic missile to me. Maybe if Valdez strapped some engines to it-"

Piper cleared her throat. "Uh, great idea, Coach, but a lot of us have had dreams and visions of Gaea rising at Camp Half-Blood…" She unsheathed her dagger Katoptris and set it on her plate. At the moment, the blade showed nothing except sky, but looking at it still gave an uncomfortable vibe. "Since we got back to the ship, I've been seeing some bad stuff in the knife. The Roman legion is almost within striking distance of Camp Half-Blood. They're gathering reinforcements: spirits, eagles, wolves."

"Octavian," Reyna growled. "I  _told_  him to wait."

"When we take over command," Frank suggested, "our first order of business should be to load Octavian into the nearest catapult and fire him as far away as possible."

"Agreed," Reyna said. "For now-"

"He's intent on war," Annabeth put in. "He'll have it unless we stop him."

Piper turned the blade of her knife. "Unfortunately, that's not the worst of it. I saw images of a possible future - the camp in flames, Roman and Greek demigods lying dead. And Gaea…" Her voice failed her.

Percy remembered the god Tartarus in physical form, looming over him. He'd never felt such helplessness and terror. He still burned with shame, remembering how his sword had slipped out of his hand. ' _You might as well try to kill the earth,_ ' Tartarus had said. If Gaea was that powerful, and she had an army of giants at her side, it seemed impossible for a dozen demigods to stop her, especially when most of the gods were incapacitated. The giants had to be stopped  _before_  Gaea woke or it was game over.

"While it's tempting to use the Athena Parthenos as a missile to send Gaea up in a godly nuclear mushroom cloud," Audrey said, "I agree with Annabeth. The statue belongs back on Long Island, where it might be able to stop this war between the two camps."

"I will go to Athens," Rei announced, finally opening her eyes. "The Primordials want revenge against Gaea and her children for their actions. If you need a secret weapon against the giants…" She held her hand up and looked down as her hand closed into a fist. " _I_  will be that secret weapon. I don't have full control now, but I will. When we get there, the giants will pay.  _Gaea_  will pay."

"So Reyna takes the statue," Percy agreed. "And we continue on to Athens."

Leo shrugged. "Cool with me. Having a Primordial kick some serious butt? Now  _that_  I'd pay to see. But, uh, a few pesky logistical problems. We got what? Two weeks until that Roman feast day when Gaea is supposed to rise?"

"The Feast of Spes," Jason said. "That's on the first of August. Today is-"

"July eighteenth," Frank offered. "So, yeah, from tomorrow, exactly fourteen days."

Hazel winced. "It took us  _eighteen_  days to get from Rome to here - a trip that should've only taken two or three days, max."

"So, given our usual luck," Leo said, " _maybe_  we have enough time to get the Argo II to Athens, find the giants, and stop them from waking Gaea. I suppose having some Primordial firepower will help us. But how is Reyna supposed to get this massive statue back to Camp Half-Blood before the Greeks and Romans put each other through the blender? She doesn't even have her pegasus anymore. Uh, sorry-"

"Fine," Reyna snapped. She might be treating them like allies rather than enemies, but I could tell Reyna still had a not-so-soft spot for Leo, probably because he'd blown up half the Forum in New Rome. She took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, Leo is correct. I don't see how I can transport something so large. I was assuming…well, I was  _hoping_  you all would have an answer."

"The Labyrinth," Hazel said. "I…I mean, if Pasiphaë really  _has_  reopened it, and I think she  _has_ …" She looked at Percy apprehensively. "Well, you said the Labyrinth could take you anywhere. So maybe-"

"No." Percy and Annabeth spoke in unison.

"Not to shoot you down, Hazel," Percy said. "It's just…"

He struggled to find the right words. How could he describe the Labyrinth to someone who'd never explored it? Daedalus had created it to be a living, growing maze. Over the centuries it had spread like the roots of a tree under the entire surface of the world. Sure, it could take you anywhere, distance inside was meaningless - you could enter the maze in New York, walk ten feet, and exit the maze in Los Angeles, but only if you found a reliable way to navigate. Otherwise, the Labyrinth would trick you and trying to kill you at every turn. When the tunnel network collapsed after Daedalus died, Percy had been relieved. The idea that the maze was regenerating itself, honeycombing its way under the earth again and providing a spacious new home for monsters…that didn't make him happy. He had enough problems already.

"I'm already planning on ending Pasiphaë's reign," Rei announced. "Hazel trapped her within the Mist, but I can extract and end her once I regain my strength. Do not rely on that madwoman's creation."

"Also, even if we  _could_  find some way to use the Labyrinth, Hazel, how would we get it down there and through the passages?" Audrey pointed out. "There's no chance we could take it down there-"

"And we don't know what it might be like now," Annabeth continued. "It was dangerous enough before, under Daedalus's control, and  _he_  wasn't evil. If Pasiphaë has remade the Labyrinth the way  _she_  wanted…" She shook her head. "Hazel,  _maybe_  your underground senses could guide Reyna through, maybe Veon could help escort you with his new powers, but we've got no one else who would stand a chance. We need…uh, what are you going by now?"

"Rei," She answered flatly.

"We need Rei to come with us to Athens if we want to stand any chance against the giants when we get there, so sending Veon alone with you for backup when he hasn't gotten a proper handle on his powers…"

"I don't like that," I announced.

"And we need you here as a part of the seven."

"You're right," Hazel said glumly. "Nevermind."

Reyna cast her eyes around the group.

"Other ideas?"

"I could go," Frank offered, not sounding very happy about it. "If I'm a praetor, I  _should_  go. Maybe we could rig some sort of sled, or-"

"No, Frank Zhang." Reyna gave him a weary smile. "I hope we will work side by side in the future, but for now your place is with the crew of this ship. You are one of the seven of the prophecy."

"I'm not," Nico announced.

Everybody stopped eating. Percy stared across the circle at Nico, trying to decide if he was joking.

Hazel set down her fork. "Nico-"

"I'll go with Reyna," He said. "I can transport the statue with shadow-travel."

"That  _would_  be far faster than any regular means of travel…" Emily admitted.

"Uh…" Percy raised his hand. "I mean, I know you just got all eight of us to the surface, and that was awesome, but a year ago you said transporting just  _yourself_  was dangerous and unpredictable. A couple of times you ended up in China. Transporting a forty-foot statue and two people halfway across the world-"

"I've changed since I came back from Tartarus," Nico snapped. His eyes glittered with anger - more intensely than Percy understood. He wondered if he'd done something to offend the guy.

"Nico," Jason intervened, "we're not questioning your power. We just want to make sure you don't kill yourself trying."

"I can do it," He insisted. "I'll make short jumps - a few hundred miles each time. It's true, after each jump I won't be in any shape to fend off monsters. I'll need Reyna to defend me and the statue."

"Nico and I  _have_  been doing some training," I shrugged. "He's more than capable of handling himself alone so long as he gets a good meal in him, and if you have someone who can share energies with him, that'll make things even easier."

"Besides, a few hundred miles at a time is nothing to be ashamed of," Emily added.

Reyna had an excellent poker face. She studied the group, scanning their faces. "Any objections?"

No one spoke.

"Very well," She said, with the finality of a judge. If she had a gavel, I suspected she would have banged it. "I see no better option. But there will be  _many_  monster attacks. I would feel better taking a third person. That's the optimal number for a quest."

"Coach Hedge," Frank blurted.

Percy stared at him, not sure he'd heard correctly. "Uh, what, Frank?"

"The coach is the best choice," Frank insisted. "The  _only_  choice. He's a good fighter; he's a certified protector; he'll get the job done."

"A faun," Reyna said.

"Satyr!" Barked the coach. "And, yeah, I'll go. Besides, when you get to Camp Half-Blood, you'll need somebody with connections and diplomatic skills to keep the Greeks from attacking you. Just let me go make a call - er, I mean, get my baseball bat."

He got up and shot Frank an unspoken message. Despite the fact that he'd just been volunteered for a likely suicidal mission, the coach looked  _grateful_. He jogged off towards the ship's ladder, tapping his hooves together like an excited kid. I suppose it made sense; his wife was at Camp Half-Blood, after all, pregnant with his child.

I blinked, trying to stop my train of thought. Semi-omnipotence could get overwhelming if I started to think too hard. Especially when I had urges to take that information and use it against him.

"I'd prefer to send someone with you as well," Rei said. "My team is large enough that we can spare one or two hands to assist you. While Veon and I have to go to Athens, if Gaea _does_  awaken, we'll be joining you at Camp Half-Blood soon enough. Until then-"

"I'll go," A small voice announced, drawing all of their attention.

The smaller version of Rei had all but blended into the crowd better than even Nico in a dark, shadowy room. Her stuffed poodle was sitting on her shoulder, and she was wearing a large shirt as a dress with a blanket pulled around her. She might've looked like a girl at a slumber party if some of them didn't know any better. She had otherwise gone unnoticed by everyone, but she wasn't invisible, and her aura was thick even if she kept it from radiating dangerous levels.

"I don't believe we've been introduced," Reyna said.

The little girl stood, the blanket around her shoulders still touching the ground she was so short. "I am called No. 1, but if you'd prefer you can just call me One. I am a monster from Tartarus. Over a thousand times I have died, and over a thousand Remnants lie within me, ready to re-inflict those deaths, however horrific they may be. I hold the power of the Curse, a punishment from Styx herself that dictates my actions are unburdened by fate. I am a force of destruction; an army lies within me unbound by gods, and will be your best chance at surviving the army that might pursue you. And I have great reserves of energy that I can pass on to Nico should he require it. As a child of the Underworld, our energies should be compatible."

"She helped us fend off the army of monsters at the Doors," Annabeth added. "She even managed to hold off Tartarus himself."

"You  _saw_  him?" Piper muttered, before realizing that she shouldn't have spoken. "Nevermind, I know that must be a terrible experience for you to recall."

"You've wanted nothing more than to free yourself," Rei said. "But you didn't understand the meaning of freedom. At first, freedom from Tartarus was what you wanted. In reality, you want freedom from your fate."

"And I have it now, thanks to you, big sister," One said. "And now…I don't know what I am to do with this freedom. Right now, it sounds like the best thing I can do is help you stop this war. Right now, Curses have been released upon the Roman and Greek armies. They've been mostly docile, but I can use them to hold off the war between the camps as long as possible. I can stop Octavian, or at least delay him, or I can kill him. But that would hardly be advised, as he is the only force keeping the Roman army together. Without him, all of the creatures he has gathered will have no master. In being a pawn of Gaea, he is unintentionally buying us time. I can influence him, I can bolster the defenses at Camp Half-Blood and can organize the Romans to make them see reason. And I can send messages from the praetor to your people under the guise of whispers in the wind, dreams, and such. I am your best chance, Reyna, if you would trust me to guide your way."

" _One_ ," Kaze suddenly said, but he pronounced it in his Japanese accent so that it was two syllables; oh-nay, like the beginning of 'Onesan.'

"Ane," I suggested. "It means 'sister' in Japanese."

Kaze nodded. "Ane."

"Close to being spelled 'one' in English, meaning sister in Japanese," Audrey relayed. "Sounds better than just calling you 'No. 1' or 'One.' Fancier than 'Annie' too."

No. 1 nodded. "I've never had a name before, so I wouldn't know. I've always just been a number. Ane it is then."

Nico rose. "Then it's settled. Me, Reyna, Coach, and Ane. I should go and rest before the first passage. We'll meet at the statue at sunset."

He left abruptly, without giving Reyna any chance to counter the declaration. She stared at Ane, but there wasn't disapproval in her eyes, just curiosity.

Once Nico was gone, Hazel frowned. "He's acting strangely. I'm not sure he's thinking this through."

"He'll be okay," Jason said.

"I hope you're right." She passed her hand over the ground. Diamonds broke the surface - a glittering milky way of stones. "We're at another crossroads. The Athena Parthenos goes west, the Argo II goes east. I hope we chose correctly."

"I think it's fine, which is saying something," Rei said. "If my instincts are saying that we're going the right way, we shouldn't take that lightly."

Even so, the air was unsettled. Despite all we'd been through and all the battles we'd won, we still seemed no closer to defeating Gaea. Sure, we'd released Thanatos, closed the Doors of Death, and we had at least extracted the Primordials to some extent. At least now we could kill monsters and make them  _stay_ dead in Tartarus for a while and we had a fighting chance if we could ever get the Primordials' powers under control. But the giants were back - _all_ the giants. Gaea was close to waking, and in trying to stop her we might just end up waking her fully, becoming the sacrifices that Pasiphaë and the other opponents we'd faced had constantly bragged about - needing a boy and a girl to spill the blood of Olympus. I had a feeling that the Primordials didn't want to stop Gaea's waking; they were like Saiyans in the sense that they wanted a powerful enemy so that they could have some entertainment. We'd have to learn their powers before Gaea awoke in order to stop her.

"One thing bothers me," Percy said. "If the Feast of Spes is in two weeks, and Gaea needs the blood of two demigods to wake - what did Clytius call it? The blood of Olympus? - then aren't we don't exactly what Gaea wants, heading to Athens? If we don't go, and she can't sacrifice any of us, doesn't that mean she can't wake up fully?"

I wanted to protest, but Annabeth beat me to the punch, taking Percy's hand. He seemed enchanted by the sight of her in the mortal world, without the Death Mist, her blonde hair catching the sunlight - even if she was still thin and wan, like him, and her eyes were stormy with thought.

"Percy, prophecies cut both ways," She said. "If we  _don't_  go, we may lose our best and only chance to stop her. Athens is where our battle lies. We can't avoid it. Besides, trying to thwart prophecies never works. Gaea could capture us somewhere else, or spill the blood of some other demigods. We aren't the only ones she can use, and we can't just run away forever."

"Yeah, you're right," Percy said. "I don't like it, but you're right."

The mood of the group became as gloomy as Tartarus air until Piper broke the tension. "Well!" She sheathed her blade and patted her cornucopia. "Good picnic. Who wants dessert?"

* * *

"Onesan?" Kaze asked.

He seemed to have been waiting for the chance to pull Rei away, and since everyone dispersed to regroup and prepare for the next journey, he finally got the chance.

" _Can I speak with you?_ " He requested, looking around for anyone that would overhear him. Just in case, he spoke in Japanese.

She nodded. "Sure, Kaze. What's the matter?"

He pulled her away from the crew, heading over to the hill where the Athena Parthenos loomed. Rei had refused to let go of my hand - or maybe it was the other way around and I refused to let go of her. Either way, Kaze didn't seem to protest to me coming along as well. Almost hiding behind the statue, he brought us to a halt and gazed worryingly at his sister.

"Onesan…what happened when you found the Primordials? Are you both okay?"

She averted her gaze. "Kaze…I'd rather not talk about it."

"But-"

"No, just…please try and understand, all right? What happened isn't something I can explain."

"Onesan…are you in danger?"

"No, I'm fine, Kaze. I'm all right. I promise. I've still gotta learn how to control this power, but the worst of it is over."

"But you won't tell me what the worst was. When the worst is over, that is when you can speak of it, because it is in the past. You are hiding what happened because it is still affecting us."

She sighed. "Can't pull one over on you, can I, Ototo?" She held her free hand out and swept her hand across his face. Though it looked real, it was made of clay and held together by the earth's magic.

He took her hand, feeling its warmth - its life - on his cool skin. "I just want to know that you are safe. The gods have taken much. Please do not let them take more."

She sighed, and I could sense her resignation just from the way her hand relaxed within mine. "You can't tell anyone, all right?"

He quickly held his hand to his chest. "On my heart," He swore.

She still looked reluctant, but it was more like she was trying to find a place to start. "When we were down in Tartarus, we had to constantly fight Tartarus's control while we were gaining the favor of the Primordials. It was confusing, twisted, and even  _I_  don't remember it all. But…what I  _do_  know is that Veon got taken over by Tartarus while we were down there. It's a long story, but he won the favor of both the Primordials, but in doing so he acted as a negator, weakening both their powers and making them all vulnerable to Tartarus's control. We went in and tried to save all of them - me, Emily, and Audrey. We managed to stop the Primordials from inciting the end of the world, and  _I_  managed to win the favor of both of the Primordials as well."

"That sounds great. And you managed to make it back here wielding their powers, right?"

She nodded. "I made it back with both Chaos and Order within me."

"Both…?" I could see the gears spinning in Kaze's head. "But then…if you have both, what does Veon-san have?"

"I told you, he fell under Tartarus's control. And…we weren't able to free him."

Kaze's eyes darted to me and then back to Rei in disbelief and then utter panic. I had to admit, he was relatively calm for finding out that Tartarus had escaped into the Overworld - or at least a part of him, anyway. But Kaze had seen what I had done to Clytius, he knew that Tartarus was capable of summoning his powers up here, and who knows what else?

"Y-You…you're-?"

"He's in control!" Rei jumped in. "So long as I'm with him, Tartarus has been tamed by his parents. I just have to stay near him to keep him in control - physical contact is the most ideal."

"Why…?" Kaze asked gently, already suspecting the answer.

"Because I couldn't just leave him down there, and we couldn't  _both_  stay down there - not when we're both needed up here."

"You wouldn't be separated from him." Rei nodded. Kaze scratched his ear nervously, probably out of habit since I doubted his artificial body could feel itches. "I understand that. When I was separated from Azrael, I felt my world become unstable. I suppose it's because he's the only one who can keep me…me. But I was really worried about him. I can't imagine having to make a choice like that, whether or not to leave him at the mercy of Tartarus for who knows how long? That's no choice at all, is it?"

"That's what  _I_  keep saying. He doesn't believe so, but it's fine so long as we're together. I would've never just left him."

"I'm right here, you know," I muttered.

She turned and poked my temple lightly. "Yes, but you seem to be in another world every time I try and explain. At least  _Kaze_  understands. Which reminds me, you and Azrael?"

He shrugged; now it was his turn to avert his gaze. "I do not know. It is nothing official."

"Well have you asked him?"

"No! And you will not either!"

She laughed, and the air seemed to lighten and grow warm as the sunset began to turn the area orange. For now, we could pretend we had a sense of normalcy before the final trials ahead of us began.


	42. A Brave Epoch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops I forgot to post before the New Year cuz life. But I swear I had it ready before then. I swear.
> 
> WE MADE IT!
> 
> HOLY HERA!
> 
> Gods I really am busy and I swear I want to start on Blood of Olympus when I can, but I'm dealing with so much right now that I don't know how soon I can get even to the first chapter. I've got a play I'm doing where the script is literally the size of a phonebook, my gods. Plus I've got college and Calculus and Literature stuff that really drains your mental constitution. But we're nearly done with this serious woo! You never know when stress will incite epiphanies.
> 
> So many plans, so little time and brain power.
> 
> :)

First Person: Ane

At sunset, Percy Jackson found Nico and I tying ropes around the pedestal of the Athena Parthenos.

Kaze had helped me get some new clothes that fit, which basically consisted of some small jeans, a white sleeveless blouse, a light jacket (with pockets big enough to hold things, he insisted, and he even hinted that the pockets were similar to his own infinite ones), and some durable shoes. He had used his magic coat pockets to get me everything that I needed, which I was thankful for. He seemed eager to be able to help the smaller version of his sister, and in naming me 'Ane,' I suppose that was his attempt to consider me his sister.

' ** _Over, under, around-_** '

' ** _No! You're doing it all wrong! Let me do it!_** '

' ** _It looks fine._** '

' ** _It needs to be sturdy!_** '

' ** _Tying knots should not be this difficult._** '

' ** _You don't need to tie them into bunny ears like shoelaces!_** '

' ** _But bunny ears are cute…_** '

I had to deal with most of my sentient Remnants arguing away in my mind on how to do things, but that wasn't much of a bother, since I was already used to them. Controlling over a thousand Remnants was easy back in Tartarus, though I'm not sure about up here in the Overworld. All I could do was speculate, but the basic ground rules had to apply: I was the first, therefore if I died the rest would probably follow back to Tartarus; I could summon the power of my Remnants' deaths without having to actually summon the Remnants themselves; I could summon my Remnants (which I had confirmed) but I didn't know if I could resurrect them if they were killed - whether they had a revival waiting period or whether they were just gone. I hoped the latter wasn't the case, and since the Remnants were all connected to me, I assumed the odds were stacked in my favor that the worst thing we have to face is a wait period before they could regenerate. Even if they didn't regenerate fast enough for them to be useful during this quest, surely over a thousand Remnants would be enough for us to manage. I just had to be careful with who I chose and how I used them.

And hey, I still had my mother's power within me - if only I could learn how to use it. Maybe if my big sister kept dying she would still be adding to my ranks. I was certainly more resilient and stronger than a normal human, and I had some power over deathy stuff too. On top of that, I could connect to the Curses. It was confusing, having so much to keep track of in my head, but it was nothing I wasn't accustomed to. We'd have to see if my new quirks were useful in this world, but I assumed they would be.

"Thank you," I heard Percy said.

I was climbing up the Athena Parthenos in order to sling a rope over the big goddess lady's shoulder just so that we could secure it. I saw Percy down with Nico, who was at the base of the statue.

Nico frowned. "What for?"

"You promised to lead the others to the House of Hades," Percy reiterated. "You did it."

I tossed the rope down and then slid down it like a firepole, allowing Nico to tie the ends of the ropes together, to make a halter. "You got me out of that bronze jar in Rome. Saved my life yet again. It was the least I could do."

His voice was steely, guarded. I tried to busy myself with the ropes even though they were already pretty much done, making myself invisible as I walked around the statue just to check the knotting. Percy didn't seem able to figure out what made Nico tick. Nico was no longer the geeky kid from Westover Hall with the Mythomagic cards, nor was he the angry longer who'd followed the ghost of Minos through the Labyrinth. So who was he?

"Also," Percy added, "you visited Bob." He told Nico about the trip through Tartarus. He figured if anyone could understand, Nico could. "You convinced Bob that I could be trusted, even though  _I_  never visited him. I never gave him a second thought. You probably saved our lives by being nice to him.

"Yeah, well…" Nico muttered. "Not giving people a second thought…that can be dangerous."

"Dude, I'm trying to say thank you."

Nico laughed without humor. "I'm trying to say you don't need to. Now I need to finish this, if you could give me some space?"

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." Percy reluctantly stepped back while Nico took up the slack on his ropes. He slipped them over his shoulders as if the Athena Parthenos were a giant backpack.

Percy couldn't help feeling a little hurt, being told to take a hike. Then again, Nico had been through a lot. The guy had survived in Tartarus on his own. Percy understood firsthand just how much strength that must have taken. Annabeth walked up the hill to join them. She took Percy's hand, which seemed to make him feel better.

I tied a rope around my torso a few times and made sure it was secure before then moving to attach it thoroughly to the ropes around Nico. If we ended up shadow-traveling to an inconvenient place and Nico passed out (entirely a possibility) then I wanted to make sure I was connected to Nico just in case so that I could either wake him up and/or feed him the energy necessary for another jump to get us out of trouble.

"Good luck," Annabeth said.

"Yeah." He didn't meet her eyes. "You too."

I snuck over to Percy and Annabeth while Nico tried to avoid them. I snuck my hand into my pocket and pulled out little origami stars that my Papa had taught me to make long ago. Kaze was easy to persuade to give me anything I needed, and a piece of paper was hardly a challenge for him. I handed them the small, delicate paper stars. I doubted they would survive the whole dangerous trip, but I figured that the sentiment would be good for as long as it lasted.

"I know how hard it was," I said, not explaining what I mean. "I'll be telling them hello every day and every night. We'll find a way to get them back."

The two of them looked down at the stars in their hands as they realized what I was saying. Before they could respond, Rei and Veon came walking up with Kaze and Azrael behind them.

"Be careful, Ane," Kaze said, kneeling down to put something over my head. It appeared to be a small bolo tie with an opal gem carved with an 'A.' "A little good luck," He explained.

"You're going to spoil her," Rei commented. "She's probably going to stay that age forever, you know. She  _has_  been that age for a long time. She's not  _that_  young of a child."

"Let me have my moments, Onesan!" He protested indignantly, like a child far younger than he looked.

Rei held her hands up in surrender while Azrael tried to pull Kaze back. I knew that Kaze was being overdramatic in order to be humorous, so I giggled at the sight.

A minute later, Reyna and Coach Hedge arrived in full armor with packs over their shoulders. Reyna looked grim and ready for combat; Coach Hedge grinned like he was expecting a surprise party.

Reyna gave Annabeth a hug. "We will succeed," She promised.

"I know you will," Annabeth said.

Coach Hedge shouldered his baseball bat. "Yeah, don't worry. I'm going to get to camp and see my baby! Uh, I mean I'm going to get this baby to camp!" He patted the leg of the Athena Parthenos.

"Here, we brought some things for you just in case," Azrael said, handing a small cross-body bag to me. "And by 'we,' I mean mostly Kaze."

"You cannot be too safe," Kaze provided.

I smiled and slipped the bag over my shoulder, securing it into place over my rope harness. I'd have to redo the ropes later, but that was a problem for after we'd made our first jump and needed a break time.

"All right," Nico announced. "Grab the ropes, please. Here we go."

Reyna and Hedge took hold. The air darkened; the Athena Parthenos collapsed into its own shadow and disappeared, along with its four escorts.

* * *

First Person: Audrey

The Argo II sailed after nightfall.

We veered southwest until we reached the coast, then splashed down the Ionian Sea. I had never been so relieved to have the real waves of the ocean beneath me again. It would have been a shorter trip to Athens over land, but after the crew's experience with mountain spirits in Italy, we'd decided not to fly over Gaea's territory any more than we had to. We would sail around the Greek mainland, following the routes that Greek heroes had taken in the ancient times. I couldn't tell if I was honored or dismayed at following the path of Greek heroes who were often felled by their own hubris or unfairly rewarded for it.

Either way, I was fine with being in my father's element, the fresh sea air in my lungs and the salty spray on my arms. I could only imagine how Percy felt, having been in Tartarus so long. I hadn't been there near as long as he had, and yet I'd still become so afraid that I'd never see the sea again that I felt overwhelming relief at being here.

Our entire team was out on the starboard deck, along with Percy and Annabeth a little further down leaning on the starboard rail. Emily explained images of the River Phlegethon, the blistered ground where monsters regenerated, the dark forest where arai circled overhead in the blood-mist clouds - images that continued to haunt the pair. And the most devastating of them all: a hut in the swamp with a warm fire and racks of drying herbs and drakon jerky.

"I wonder if that hut is empty now," Emily said.

Rei and Veon were silent. If they knew the true fate of Bob and Damasen, they didn't say. You might be tempted to think that their new power would give them the power to save the giant and the Titan, but I also knew that Primordials worked in the same annoyingly vague way as the gods just exponentially worse. Complaining with them probably wouldn't get me anywhere.

"We have to make their sacrifice worth it. We're going to make Gaea pay," I declared.

"She has much to atone for," Rei agreed coldly.

I looked up at the stars, wondering where Nico, Reyna, Hedge, and Ane were now, and how long it would take them to make it back - assuming they survived. While Ane was indeed powerful and useful, she wasn't strong or fast or combat-equipped. She was a tactician, and while she had many ways to be of assistance, if she was caught off guard she could be in just as much danger as the others. Hopefully Kaze's gifts would help.

Fourteen days to reach Athens. Then one way or another, the war would be decided.

Over in the bow, Leo whistled happily as he tinkered with Festus's mechanical brain, muttering something about a crystal and an astrolabe. Amidships, Piper and Hazel practiced their swordplay, gold and bronze blades ringing in the night. Jason and Frank stood at the helm, talking in low tones - maybe telling stories of the legion, or sharing thoughts on being praetor. Kaze and Azrael were meditating together, trying to focus on each other's perspectives of time. In the end, Kaze's OCD started getting to him and he started constructing things in his hands while he listened to Azrael explain what he knew of his parents.

"We've got a good crew," Percy said. "If I have to sail to my death-"

"You're not dying on me, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth interrupted. "Remember? Never separated again. And after we get home…" She trailed off.

"What?" Percy asked.

She kissed him. "Ask me again, once we defeat Gaea."

He smiled, happy to have something to look forward to. "Whatever you say."

As we sailed farther from the coast, the sky darkened and more stars came out. I studied the constellations. Annabeth had tried to teach me and the others about constellations when we'd had free time. Rei and Kaze knew them well, and knew how to navigate with them.

"Bob says hello," Veon whispered to the stars.

The Argo II sailed into the night.

* * *

Third Person: Primordial

Half the crew had fallen asleep by the tine Rei and Veon disappeared.

Rei tapped the gem at her chest, a few inches below her collarbone. Hers was a shimmering opal-like gem that slowly faded back and forth between black and white with every color of the spectrum. Veon's held the eerie reds and blacks of Tartarus swirling around within.

"Let us finish this now," Rei announced.

Her eyes faded so that she had her pure black left eye and her pure right white one. Veon let his brown eyes darken to black and his sclera bled to be bright red.

" _Let's go,_ " He announced.

The two of them simply concentrated and teleported back to the River Acheron above the collapsed House of Hades. They appeared in a small swirl of their respective colors, their auras growing in intensity once more to their Primordial status.

" _Looks like Hecate just left her here._ "

Rei waved her hand and parted the Mist, forcing it to release a figure from its depths. Pasiphaë fell forth from the confines of the Mist, freed from her prison of an endless pit of darkness inflicted upon her by Hazel. Pasiphaë looked around in shock at her freedom, still shaken by her experience and cursing out Hazel before she looked up and saw who had freed her.

Pasiphaë did try.

She pulled the Mist around her and tried to flee, but black chains snapped free from Veon's back, shooting forward and cutting through the Mist with no resistance. Four chains that matched the ones that had once held the Doors of Death snapped cuffs around Pasiphaë's wrists and ankles, dispelling the Mist and restraining her magic. Veon stepped forward, hands in his pockets with his chains floating around him like vipers ready to strike.

" _I would say I'm sorry, but unfortunately that would be a lie, so I won't._ "

" _Something you should know about us true Primordials, is that we don't give a damn enough to lie and spare your feelings,_ " Rei agreed. " _Consider yourself honored, Pasiphaë. Out of all the chosen ones of Hecate who have fallen and are worthy of punishment, you bear witness to our rise. And therefore, you will be of some use to us. Zoraya Kanazoi requires more power, and who better to use than the bearer of the Labyrinth?_ "

Veon removed one of his Stygian iron rings and held it out towards Pasiphaë. " _Shh, it won't be painful so long as you don't resist._ "

* * *

When Rei awoke, she sought out Veon's hand beside her. Waking up from the Primordial high was always difficult back before she was fully integrated into the Primordial's power. Now that the Primordials were stable within her, two of them at once, and only growing stronger, she started having trouble keeping her thoughts straight. It was only by being beside Veon that the Primordials within both of them calmed down.

She was pleased to find him waking at the same time that she had and his hand sought out hers.

"You okay?" She whispered.

He nodded lightly, though he looked exhausted. Rei admittedly didn't like how there were often times that she had memory loss from the Primordials messing with her mind. She didn't like the idea that they were doing things without her consent - or at the very least her knowledge. Then again, she  _did_  sign up for this knowing full well that she wasn't going to have much influence when it comes to their decisions. She was surprised that she was allowed her freedom at all. Deities got bored, she supposed. But if life had been taxing when she'd had  _one_  weakened Primordial, life was absolutely soul sucking with two. At the same time she felt so full of energy that it felt like she was going to explode. Being with Veon helped her relax yet made her nervous and anxious. But she wouldn't wish to go back in time and change her decision.

While Veon had mixed feelings about returning, she had no room for regrets. She couldn't have left him behind; that wasn't a possibility, she knew for sure.

What she really should be worried about was what her own PrimordiaIs were up to in their mysterious and dangerous ways. She couldn't make contact with them directly anymore; the only one she could telepathically communicate with was Veon – her lone partner in this confusing, amazing, terrifying existence. She'd wanted to keep him out of this life, but now she was glad she wasn't alone and that she could at least help him as he helped her.

"You remember Homecoming?" She asked out of the blue while they were keeping watch on deck for monsters.

"The one where you and I ended up covered in chemicals?"

"The one with the stupid guy that we had to ward off."

"Yeah, I remember."

"Do you ever wanna go back to those days?"

He shrugged. "Sometimes. But then again, I'm fine with where we are now. We've gone on so many adventures and though it's been hard, I wouldn't take back a second of it. No room for regret."

She smiled. "My thoughts exactly. But you can sense it in the air, can't you? Something terrible is stirring; I fear Gaea might be bringing an army even more formidable than we're prepared for."

"Worse than giants?"

" _Giants_  all we need to do is heal the rift between the camps, get the gods on our side, and kick their asses. Gaea herself will be punished by the Primordials once they gain their strength. Even my father and Kaze's mum, Hannah and Ithuriel are on the hunt for them, and I think they're capable of holding their own. My Papa and Tsuchi ran from us when we first emerged - they know how much of a threat we pose to them. Monsters thrown at us I'm sure we can handle."

"Then what are you worried about? The camps?"

"I can't say for sure. It's like the answer is staring me in the face, but my eyes refuse to focus on it. There's also the concern that we haven't fully gotten a handle on the Primordials. We won their power, but we aren't  _one_  with them. Until we can finish the bond, it's going to be an on and off thing, and I can't say for sure they're going to act in our best interests."

"We'll figure things out," He promised. "The world seems so small now, doesn't it?"

"I wouldn't mind the chance to slow down and admire it once this battle is over. That's what Chaos and Order love to do, just take in the world peacefully. This thing with Gaea is a special case, but…I don't know, I feel like there's something just…disturbing coming for us."

"Disturbing like…those weird CGI creatures from that Netflix show? Or disturbing like a good horror story from that other Netflix show?"

"Disturbing like an existential crisis of morality kind of disturbing."

"Ah. Well that's not good."

"No kidding."

They watched as Kaze and Azrael played with a bunch of robotic animals that Kaze had created - Rei suspected they were built specifically to please Azrael. A bunch of little Neko bots crawled over them, one nested in Kaze's hair, another hanging from his arm with its two front paws, and another hanging like a bat with its two hind legs.

Staring at Azrael, suddenly it came to her.

The only place where demigods were unaffiliated with the gods, where Gaea could easily get them to work for her. The place where demigods were trained to be ruthless warriors with no emotion, no humanity, and where free will was a concept stripped from most at a very young age. The place where they'd had to rescue Azrael from, and where they had technology that could disable celestial powers to a certain extent.

"The wards," Rei whispered.


End file.
